E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Packera paupercula (Michx.) Á. Löve & D. Löve
Canadian butterweed
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #6967)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Packera paupercula
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from a fibrous-rooted short, simple or slightly branched woody stem-base, occasionally with a few short slender stolons; stems erect, solitary or sometimes several, few-branched upwards, 10-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate to elliptic or oblong, stalked, 2-20 cm long including the stalk, 0.4-4 cm wide, nearly entire to toothed, glabrous; stem leaves lanceolate, deeply toothed or lobed, progressively reduced upwards and becoming unstalked.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to several in a clustered, flat-topped inflorescence; involucres 3-9 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, green or purplish-tipped, glabrous to moderately woolly-hairy, margins translucent, hairy at tips; bracteoles few, inconspicuous; ray flowers yellow, mostly 5-10 mm long, rarely lacking; disk flowers yellow.
Fruits:
Achenes oblong, ribbed, glabrous or sometimes finely hairy; pappus of white hairlike bristles.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist forests, meadows and streambanks in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC, except absent on the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to AK, YT, NT, E to PQ and S to GA and OR.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Packera paupercula

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 134 1184 2105
Slope Gradient (%) 0 14 75
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
64 193 355
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
1 4 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
56
Modal BEC Zone Class
SWB
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BAFA(3), BWBS(3), CWH(5), ESSF(6), ICH(7), IDF(4), MS(2), SBS(7), SWB(10)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Senecio balsamitae Muhl. ex Willd.
Senecio crawfordii (Britton) G.W. Douglas & G. Ruyle-Douglas
Senecio gaspensis Greenm.
Senecio gaspensis var. firmifolius (Greenm.) Fernald
Senecio pauperculus Michx.
Senecio pauperculus Michx.
Senecio pauperculus var. balsamitae (Muhl. ex Willd.) Fernald
Senecio pauperculus var. crawfordii (Britton) T.M. Barkley
Senecio pauperculus var. firmifolius (Greenm.) Greenm.
Senecio pauperculus var. neoscoticus Fernald
Senecio pauperculus var. praelongus (Greenm.) House
Senecio pauperculus var. thompsoniensis (Greenm.) B. Boivin
Senecio tweedyi Rydb.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References