Packera anonyma - Southern Ragwort/Small's Ragwort/Appalachian Ragwort
Southern Ragwort (Packera Anonyma/Senecio anonymus) is a tall, perennial herb that grows from 12 to 30" tall. The stem is densely wooly at the base. Young stems are sometimes a little hairy above but soon become smooth. The leaves are basal, elliptic to oblanceolate, mostly serrate, and up to 12" in length with a blunt tip. The base tapers to a petiole. The stem leaves are alternative, deeply pinnately incised, and reduced upward.
The flowers are ray flowers, 8 to 15, about 0.25 inches long. The disc is yellow and about 0.25 inches wide. The involucral bracts are linear, smooth, 0.2" long. The heads radiate into a corymb-like inflorescence of usually 20 to 100 flowers. Present from May to June in uplands, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and open, dry woods in the eastern US from southern PA to southern Indiana, south to Florida and Mississippi.
Southern Ragwort was used by Native Americans to treat heart problems and prevent pregnancy. Caution should be exercised because the plant contains toxins that have been shown to increase blood pressure and cause uterine contractions as well as liver damage. It may also have cancer-causing agents.
The flowers are ray flowers, 8 to 15, about 0.25 inches long. The disc is yellow and about 0.25 inches wide. The involucral bracts are linear, smooth, 0.2" long. The heads radiate into a corymb-like inflorescence of usually 20 to 100 flowers. Present from May to June in uplands, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and open, dry woods in the eastern US from southern PA to southern Indiana, south to Florida and Mississippi.
Southern Ragwort was used by Native Americans to treat heart problems and prevent pregnancy. Caution should be exercised because the plant contains toxins that have been shown to increase blood pressure and cause uterine contractions as well as liver damage. It may also have cancer-causing agents.