Asteraceae
Daisy Family
Senecio plattensis Nutt.
- Stem: biennial; 1’ to 2’ tall; unbranched; tufted, woolly hairs.
- Leaves: alternate; basal leaves oval with long leaf stalks, stem leaves sessile, progressively smaller, and more pinnately divided up the stem; basal leaves 1 1/2” by 3/4” with 1” to 4” leaf stalks; lower stem leaves 3” long, upper, 1 1/2” long; toothed margins; hairy, especially the upper leaves.
- Inflorescence: tight clusters of heads on branching flower stalks from the upper leaf axils and stem tip; flower stalks woolly.
- Heads: numerous (about 12), yellow rays, 1/8” long; yellow disk flowers; head 1/2” across; fillaries 1/4” long; flowering from mid-May to early June.
- Fruits: “seeds” (fruits) 1/16” long with stiff, very short hairs on the angles; plumes of fine hairs, 1/4” long; fruiting begins in late May.
- Habitat: frequent on dry to moist prairies; in open woods, and on roadsides.
- Notes: Another prairie ragwort, Senecio pauperculus Michx., less woolly and longer-lived than S. plattensis, is found on moist prairies.
- Bibliography from Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Vascular Plants of Iowa
Can be found in these counties:
