Senecio integerrimus var. exaltatus

Columbia ragwort, Columbia Ragwort

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Columbia ragwort is a California native perennial found in the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Great Basin in open woodland, sagebrush scrub, and grassland at elevations of 500 to 3,200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces yellow ray flowers 6 to 15 millimeters long in heads with distinctive black-tipped phyllaries. Growing with soft-hairy stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall, it has a robust and upright growth habit. Its leaves are primarily basal and lower stem leaves, ranging from elliptic to lanceolate, with bases tapering from rounded to slightly heart-shaped. The flower heads are clustered, typically containing 5 to 15 ray flowers that create a bright yellow display against the plant's soft, hairy foliage.

Habitat: Open woodland, sagebrush scrub, grassland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 500-3200 m

Bioregions: CaR, SN, GB

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