Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Serpentine Ragwort - Packera serpenticola   Boufford, Kartesz, Shi, & Zhou
Members of Asteraceae:
Members of Packera with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Asterales » Family Asteraceae
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AuthorBoufford, Kartesz, Shi, & Zhou
DistributionKnown only from Clay County.

This recently-described species is endemic to Buck Creek Barrens in Clay County. As such, the species should be elevated to State Endangered in the near future.
AbundanceKnown from just one location, but within this site is known from 8-10 sub-sites. The population consists of over 10,000 plants and is not under immediate threat. As this is its only location, it should be Federally listed at some point in the future. At the state level, it is listed as Threatened.
HabitatPine barrens (mainly Pinus rigida) on serpentine rock, in various settings, such as roadbanks, glades, and open grassy slopes.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting May-June.
IdentificationThis species is essentially identical to Golden Ragwort (P. aurea), but the leaves (including the petioles) and stems are covered with dense, woolly hairs, and the leaves are only 1-2.5 inches wide (vs. 2-4 inches wide in P. aurea). In addition, Golden Ragwort is a wetland plant of seepages, swampy ground, and other wet places; whereas this species prefers dry to mesic grassy barrens in very high pH soil.
Taxonomic CommentsFormerly hidden within P. aurea, and later included within P. plattensis, but it was obvious that this taxon did not comfortably fit within either species. As a result, it was described as new to science in 2014 by David Boufford et al.

Other Common Name(s)Buck Creek Ragwort
State RankS1
Global RankG1
State StatusT
US Status
USACE-agcp
USACE-emp
County Map - click on a county to view source of record.
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B.A. SorrieClay County, same data. Basal leaves. ClayPhoto_natural
B.A. SorrieClay County, 2021, Buck Creek Serpentine Barrens. ClayPhoto_natural
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