Sand Wash Groundsel
Threadleaf Ragwort
Senecio flaccidus
(S. douglasii)
Photographed near Camp Creek, Maricopa Co., Arizona. June 2008.
Photographed near Camp Creek, Maricopa Co., Arizona. June 2008.
SHRUBBY PERENNIAL: Robust herb with woody crown and lower branches.
Normally grows with many branches rising up from base. Leafy. Plants typically
around two meters tall.
FRUIT: The seeds are topped with numerous fine bristles similar to a
dandelion's.
LEAVES: Leaves are finely divided into thread-like segments. Variously
pubescent, but frequently densly so.
FLOWERS: Bright yellow, narrow rays and darker yellow disc flowers.
Blooming mid spring through summer and attractive to a wide variety of insects.
Blooms sometimes open through December even after sub-freezing temperatures.
RANGE: Fairly common especially in the higher elvations of the Sonoran
Desert in Arizona and Mexico. Especially common within and near sandy washes
and along roadways.
UNARMED. No thorns.