Packera greenei

Flame ragwort

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Flame ragwort is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges in dry, rocky serpentine areas and open woodland habitats at elevations of 100 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces distinctive red-orange ray flowers 8 to 15 millimeters long set against green flower heads with deep red-tipped phyllaries. Growing with a single stem 20 to 30 centimeters tall, it emerges from horizontal rhizomes and displays irregularly tomentose (woolly) stem surfaces. Its basal leaves are round to oblanceolate, 2 to 5 centimeters long, with coarsely toothed edges and a characteristic reddish underside, while upper stem leaves become progressively smaller and more linear. The plant forms radiate flower heads with 8 to 10 ray flowers and 35 to 65 disk flowers, creating a vibrant display in its serpentine woodland habitats.

Habitat: Uncommon. Dry, rocky, generally serpentine soils, open areas in scrub, woodland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 100-1600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR.

California counties: Mendocino, Lake, Trinity, Sonoma, Napa, Colusa, Glenn, Tehama, Shasta, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.