Composite C

Flowers That Are Composites

Part C

The Asteraceae in this section have both ray and disk flowers. Many of the Asteraceae have yellow flowers and are difficult to tell apart. To identify the these flowers it is helpful to look at the phyllaries and also the leaves.

The common name, genus and species, and family are given for each flower. Since different references sometimes give different scientific names, more than one may be listed under the flower picture.

Asteraceae

(Tetranueris,Rydbergia, and Picradenia were formerly included in Hymenoxys and still are in some references.)

Goldflower has woolly leaves and bright flower heads with 3-lobed rays. Leaves are basal. It is a dwarf, clump-forming plant found on the alpine tundra.
Alpine Goldflower has large showy flowers with 3-lobed rays. There may be 1 to 3 flowers per stem. Stem leaves are divided into narrow segments. It occurs in alpine meadows.
Colorado Rubber Plant is much branched with many yellow flower heads. It has 3-lobed rays. Leaves are narrow and have a smooth rubbery feel. It is abundant on gravelly flats in the foothills and montane zones.

Goldflower

Tetraneuris brevifolia Hymenoxys acaulis

Asteraceae

Alpine Goldflower or "Old Man of the Mountain"

Rydbergia grandiflora or Hymenoxys grandiflora

Asteraceae



Colorado Rubber Plant Picradenia richardsonii or Hymenoxys richardsonii Asteraceae



Western Golden Ragwort Senecio eremophilus Asteraceae

Asteraceae Continued

Senecio (also known as groundsel, ragwort or butterweed)

The involucre consists of a row of equal phyllaries with a few smaller ones at the base. The phyllaries are smooth.
Western Golden Ragwort has leaves that are pinnately divided. It is common along roadsides and trails in montane and lower subalpine zones.
Daffodil Senecio has a nodding head. It is found at higher elevations and does better in moist sheltered areas.
Fremont's Senecio is a low, succulent, many-stemmed plant. The leaves are sharply dentate (toothed). It is found in the alpine zone.
Saffron Butterweed has an orange disk and yellow orange rays. It is found in wet meadows in montane areas. (Packera dimorphophyllus has yellow rays and grows at higher elevations.)
Rocky Senecio has leaves that are mainly basal. It is found in rocky alpine and subalpine areas.

Fremont's Senecio

Senecio fremontii

Asteraceae

Daffodil Senecio or Alpine Groundsel

Senecio amplectens

Asteraceae

Rocky Senecio

Packera werneriifolia

Asteraceae

Saffron Butterweed or Saffron Senecio

Packera crocatus

Asteraceae

Asteraceae Continued

Gumweed is easy to recognize because of the recurved phyllaries. (They are curled back.) It is also very sticky. It is found in fields, roadsides and hillsides both in the foothills and montane zone.
Yarrow has a flat-topped flower head. The head is made of many small white flowers. The leaves are very finely divided. It is found in meadows and roadsides from sagebrush areas to alpine zones.

Gumweed

Grindelia squarrosa

Asteraceae

Yarrow

Achillea lanulosa

Asteraceae