Packera quercetorum (Greene) C. Jeffrey  
Family: Asteraceae
Oak Creek ragwort
[Senecio quercetorum Greene]
Packera quercetorum image
Max Licher  
Perennials, 60-100+ cm; taprooted (caudices subligneous, ascending to erect). Stems 1 or 2-4, clustered (proximally deeply purple-tinged, distally lightly tinged), glabrous or tomentose at bases and in leaf axils. Basal leaves (and proximal cauline) petiolate; blades obovate or lyrate (pinnately lobed, lateral lobes 2-6+ pairs, their bases petioluliform, terminal lobes larger than laterals, midribs narrowly winged), 60-160+ × 20-40+ mm, bases wide, ultimate margins sharply dentate, crenate-dentate, or irregularly incised. Cauline leaves gradually reduced (petiolate or sessile; shallowly lobed, midribs ± winged, distals bractlike, dentate to incised). Heads 15-40+ in open, cymiform arrays. Peduncles ebracteate, glabrous. Calyculi inconspicuous. Phyllaries (13-)21, green (tips yellow), 5-7 mm, glabrous (tips sometimes hairy). Ray florets (8-)13; corolla laminae 6-10+ mm. Disc florets 60-70+; corolla tubes 2-3 mm, limbs 3.5-4.5 mm. Cypselae 1.5-2 mm, glabrous or ± scabrellous; pappi 5.5-6.5 mm. 2n = 92. Flowering mid Apr-early Jun. Rocky soils, open areas, scrub-oak and pinyon-pine forests, chaparral; 800-2200 m; Ariz., N.Mex. Packera quercetorum is found only infrequently and in relatively small populations in central and southern Arizona and west-central New Mexico. The plants are robust and have probable affinities to P. multilobata. The plants have a bluish tinge when freshly collected and are distinctive in the field.

Packera quercetorum image
Max Licher  
Packera quercetorum image
Max Licher  
Packera quercetorum image
Max Licher  
Packera quercetorum image
Max Licher  
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