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Packera glabella
Butterweed
Synonym(s): Senecio glabellus
Florida native
Butterweed is found in wet places through much of Florida, except for the most northeastern counties and a few other scattered areas of the state. The range extends throughout the southeastern United States up the Atlantic coast to Maryland, west to Texas, north to South Dakota and up the Ohio River valley into Kentucky and Ohio. Previously known to occur in Ontario, but presumed extirpated.
Packera glabella is a common annual which can reach nearly a meter in height, but is usually shorter. In the Florida peninsula it can begin blooming in the winter, elsewhere mid-spring to mid-summer. The stem is hollow, smooth, ribbed and succulent with alternate leaves gradually reduced upward. Of the Packera species in Florida, P. glabella has the leafiest stem. The leaves are pinately divided with the end segment being the largest. The yellow flowers are numerous in corymbs with toothed rays and linear bracts.
Packera glabella is a member of the Asteraceae - Aster family.
Other species of the Packera genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Packera aurea - GOLDEN RAGWORT
Packera obovata - ROUNDLEAF RAGWORT
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Feb 26, 2022
