falsegold groundsel

not listed

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FACW - Facultative wetland

FACW - Facultative wetland

FACW - Facultative wetland

Falsegold groundsel, also called western heart-leaved groundsel, is an erect, perennial forb. It may be 4″ to 24″ in height, though it is usually 8″ to 16″ tall. It rises on usually 1 stem, occasionally 2 or 3 stems, from a short, slender or stout, erect rootstock. It does not produce stolons.

The stems are erect. When young they are covered with felty or cobwebby hairs near the base. At flowering they usually hairless or almost hairless.

Basal leaves are relatively small and broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped. They are on long, slender leaf stalks. The leaf stalks are usually covered with felty or cobwebby hairs when young, becoming hairless or nearly hairless at flowering time. They are 1½ to 2 times as long as the leaf blade. The leaf blades are ¾″ to 1½″ long, ⅜″ to ¾″ wide. They are usually held erect, perpendicular to the ground. They are rounded at the tip and usually shallowly heart-shaped or straight across at the base. They are usually unlobed, but sometimes have a few narrow, irregular lobes near the base. The upper and lower surfaces are hairless. The margins have rounded teeth. Basal leaves are usually present when the plant is in flower.

Stem leaves are alternate. Lower stem leaves are stalked. The leaf blades are deeply lobed (pinnatifid). As they ascend the stem the leaves become gradually smaller and stalkless or nearly stalkless. The upper and lower surfaces are hairless. The margins are sharply toothed.

The inflorescence is a loose or slightly condensed, branched cluster of 6 to 12 flower heads at the end of the stem. The outer heads are on longer flower stalks than the inner heads, resulting in a flat topped cluster. The flower stalks are hairless and usually have a small, leaf-like bract at the base.

The flower heads are ½″ to 1¼″ wide. There is a whorl of 21 green bracts (involucre) united for most of their length into a cylinder-shaped flower cup, and separated at the tip into pointed, thin lobes. The bracts do not have purple tips. The involucre is usually hairless, sometimes sparsely hairy near the base. There are 8 or 13 yellow ray florets and 70 to 80 or more yellow disk florets.

The fruit is a dry cypsela with hairs attached.

4″ to 24″

Yellow ray florets, yellow or golden yellow disk florets

Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) basal leaves are much larger, 2 ″ to 4″ long and wide. They are heart-shaped, and strongly indented at the base. They are usually held angled upward or parallel to the ground. The involucral bracts have purple tips.

Moist to moderate moisture. Prairies, streambanks.

May to July

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 28, 29, 30.

Native

The 64 species in the genus Packera were formerly included in the genus Senecio.

Plant

Inflorescence

Flower Head

Stem Leaf

Basal Leaf