North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Packera glabella

Packera glabella (Poir.) C. Jeffrey

butterweed, smooth ragwort, yellowtop

Synonym(s): Senecio glabellus, Senecio lobatus

Image ID: 15969
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PAGL17
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Packera glabella
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-21

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PACKE
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Packera
GENUS AUTHORITY: Á. Löve
GENUS COMMON: Ragwort
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 65 species, annual and perennial herbs, of subtropical, temperate, and arctic North American, with a few species in Siberia. These species have usually been considered part of Senecio, and have often been given informal status as the Aureoid group. According to recent interpretations, this group warrants generic status, as Packera (Bremer 1994).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Trock in FNA (2006b); Barkley (1962)=Z; Cronquist (1980)=SE; Barkley (1999)=Y; Barkley (1978)=X; Bremer (1994); Mahoney & Kowal (2008).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect annual/biennial of swamp forests, bottomland forests and cleared areas in bottomlands, often in mucky soils.
STEMS: Stems stout, hollow, branched in inflorescence, light green to reddish-green.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate; petiolate; elliptic to oblong-lance-shaped; 2-8 in. long (reduced and sessile upward); deeply lobed, with the lobes nearly opposite (pinnate), irregular in shape and toothed.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) in branched terminal clusters and smaller clusters from leaf axils; heads about 1/2 in. wide, consisting of 5-15 yellow ray florets encircling a center disk of tiny, golden yellow, tubular florets.
FRUITS: Fruit a small, tufted achene.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 1-3 ft.

DURATION: Annual
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: Mar-early Jun

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE:
LIGHT EXPOSURE:
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PAGL17
USDA Common Name: Butterweed
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (W)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NE, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX), CAN (ON)
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	OBL				OBL	FACW		FACW	FACW

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Packera glabella
COMMON NAME: Butterweed, Smooth Ragwort, Yellowtop
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, Il, K, Pa, WH3, Y; = Senecio glabellus Poiret - C, F, G, GW, RAB, S, SE, WV, X]
PHENOLOGY: Mar-early Jun.
HABITAT: Swamp forests, bottomland forests, cleared areas in bottomlands, often in mucky soils.
COMMENTS: E. NC south to s. FL, west to e. TX, north in the interior to sw. WV, OH, MO, and SD.
RANGE MAP: Packera glabella.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Packera Á. Löve (Ragwort)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 65 species, annual and perennial herbs, of subtropical, temperate, and arctic North American, with a few species in Siberia. These species have usually been considered part of Senecio, and have often been given informal status as the Aureoid group. According to recent interpretations, this group warrants generic status, as Packera (Bremer 1994).
REFERENCE: Trock in FNA (2006b); Barkley (1962)=Z; Cronquist (1980)=SE; Barkley (1999)=Y; Barkley (1978)=X; Bremer (1994); Mahoney & Kowal (2008).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Packera glabella in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Packera glabella in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Packera glabella in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Packera glabella in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Packera glabella in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Packera glabella

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 15969 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 15969 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 22979 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)