Senecio ampullaceus explained

Senecio ampullaceus, also known as Texas ragwort, Texas squaw-weed, Texas groundsel,[1] and Texas butterweed,[2] is a species of Senecio in the family Asteraceae, receiving its Latin name ampullaceus from its flask shaped flower-head.[3] It is recommended for landscape use in its native Texas.[4]

Description

The seedlings of S. ampullaceus often have a purplish color on the undersides of their leaves in the winter, especially along their midrib.[1] Flowering in early–mid spring,[5] Texas ragwort is a tall annual,[6] growing to from 20cm (10inches) to 80cm (30inches) tall and similar to S. quaylei.[5]

Stems and leaves:The leaves with broadly winged leaf stalks, grow from single stems; the nodes between leaves getting shorter and shorter higher on the stem. Ovate leaves with pointed tips 3cm (01inches) to 10cm (00inches) long by 1.5cm (00.6inches) to 4cm (02inches) wide with tapered bases. Leaves at the lower portion of the plant have more teeth on their edges than the leaves at the upper portion of the mature plant.[5]

Stems and leaves are covered loosely and unevenly with a mat of fine hairs, occasionally having no hairs.[5]

Flowers:Flowering stalks have 10 to 30 flower heads which as a group make a flat top to the whole plant. Each flower head is surrounded by 2 to 8 bractlets or mini-leaves, each 1mm to more than 2mm. Approximately 13 green to grayish bracts, 7mm to 10mm long surrounding 8 ray florets and an 8mm to 10mm corolla.[5]

Fruits:One seeded fruits with rigid pappus.[5]

Roots:Roots relatively thin and branching.[5]

Distribution

S. ampullaceus prefers altitudes of 100m (300feet) to 800m (2,600feet) in open sandy or disturbed sites.[5]

Native:

Nearctic

North-central United States: Missouri

Southeastern United States: Arkansas

South-central United States: Texasor

Southeastern United States: Arkansas

South central United States: Texas[7]

Current:

Nearctic

North-central United States: Missouri, Oklahoma

Southeastern United States: Arkansas

South-central United States: Texas[8] [9]

Varieties or subspecies which are synonyms

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Texas Groundsel, Texas Squaw-Weed . 2008-04-10 . Texas A&M University . Texas A&M University . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061017223546/http://texnat.tamu.edu/cmplants/toxic/Acrobat/Texas%20groundsel.pdf . October 17, 2006 .
  2. Book: Peterson Field Guide , Theodore F. Niehaus . Peterson Field Guide . Illustrations by Charles L. Ripper . A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers . 1984 . 2008-04-09 . The Peterson Field Guide Series . Houghton Mifflin Company . New York, New York 100003 . 0-395-93612-8 . https://books.google.com/books?id=7q1bR8gFMfYC&pg=PA214 . Tall-stemmed Butterweeds . 449 pages . 1998 .
  3. Book: Holloway . Joel Ellis . Neill . Amanda . A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains . 2008-04-08 . TCU Press . 0-87565-309-X . 2005 . Section 36 . https://books.google.com/books?id=agbm4S1eCQsC&pg=PA138 . 2005.
  4. Web site: Native Plants for Landscape Use in Texas . 2008-04-08 . Federal Highway Administration . United States Department of the Interior . 2005-07-11 . State Plant Listings . United States Department of the Interior . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080723221040/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rdsduse/tx.htm . 2008-07-23.
  5. 32. Senecio ampullaceus Hooker . 2008-04-08 . Flora of North America . Flora of North America . 20 . Page 548, 561 .
  6. Web site: Senecio ampullaceus . 2008-04-08 . University of Texas at Austin . Image Archive of Central Texas Plants . University of Texas at Austin.
  7. Senecio ampullaceus Hook. . 2008-04-08 . Flora of Missouri . Flora of North America . 2 . 1654 .
  8. Walter C. Holmes . Jason R. Singhurst . Steve G. Powers . Senecio ampullaceus (Asteraceae): A West Gulf Coastal Plain endemic new to Oklahoma . Phytologia . 88 . 2 . 193–195 . September 2006 . 10.5962/bhl.part.27430 . 2008-04-08. free.
  9. Web site: ADVENTIVE TAXA OF MISSOURI . 2008-04-08 . Ozarks Regional Herbarium . Missouri State University . 2002-06-26 . CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE OZARKS REGIONAL HERBARIUM . Missouri State University.
  10. Web site: Senecio ampullaceus Hook. . 2008-04-08 . Missouri Botanical Garden . Missouri Botanical Garden . Missouri Botanical Garden Press.

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