[Butterweeds and Groundsels: The Genera Packera and Senecio East of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]
Tall Butterweed, Tall Ragwort, Butterweed Groundsel
Senecio serra var. serra
Synonyms: Senecio andinus, Senecio lanceolatus, Senecio millikenii, Senecio serra var. altior, Senecio solidago
Inflorescence of tall butterweed as seen at the northeastern base of Steptoe Butte in eastern Washington..........June 22, 2009.
Photo at right of tall butterweed
from the Chief Joseph Trail, Wallowa-Whitman N. F.........July 27, 1997.
Characteristics:
Tall butterweed is an erect, multi-stemmed plant, from 50 to 200 cm high
with glabrous herbage. The leaves have serrate margins. The blades of the lower
leaves are oblanceolate with short petioles. The upper leaves are roughly the
same size as the lower leaves, lanceolate to lance-elliptic in shape,tapering
slowly to the petiole. The leaves range from 7-15 cm long and 1-4 cm wide.
Many flower heads may be found at the top of the plant. The central disc flowers
(about 3-7 mm wide) are yellow, as are the 5-8 ray flowers (each of which is
about 7 mm long) which ring the disc. The involucre is 6-8 mm high with 8-13
individual bracts. The bracts are black-tipped.
Habitat:
Tall butterweed is found in moist meadows, and along streambanks, and in open
places.
Range:
Tall butterweed is widespread from the east base of the Cascades east to western
Montana and south to California and Colorado.
Close-up of the involucral bracts of tall butterweed as seen at the northeastern base of Steptoe Butte in eastern Washington.......June 22, 2009.
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Tall butterweed on basalt talus slopes next to a small lake along the West Fork Naneum Creek in the Colockum State Wildlife Area.......July 25, 2009.
Tall butterweed blooming in a brushy riparian area north of the Box Canyon Road and between the Rock and Box Canyon Creeks drainages, Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.........July1, 2020.
The photo above shows a close-up of the budding inflorescence of tall butterweed as seen along Forest Road #40 near Sunset Point in the Umatilla National Forest of southeastern Washington.........June 25, 2007.
The photo above shows a close-up stem leaf of tall butterweed as seen along Forest Road #40 near Sunset Point in the Umatilla National Forest of southeastern Washington.........June 25, 2007.
Stem leaf of tall butterweed as seen at the northeastern base of Steptoe Butte in eastern Washington..........June 22, 2009.
The another view of a stem leaf of tall butterweed as seen from Klick's K-Bar-L Ranch,
along the North Fork of the Sun River in Montana............August 4, 2000.
Tall butterweed as seen from the Chief Joseph Trail, Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest............July 27, 1997.
Paul Slichter