Small's Ragwort
Packera anonyma
Found in rock outcrops, roadsides, woodlands; hammocks, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 28 inches
- Spread
- 1–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 1.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 44 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- Spring
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 66 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Habitats
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; forests and woodlands; Coastal Plain hammocks.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
19CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Senecio
- Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
- Autoplusia egenaBean-Leaf Skeletonizer Moth
- Emmelina monodactylaMorning-Glory Plume Moth
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Hellinsia kellicottiiGoldenrod Borer Plume Moth
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
- Lioptilodes albistriolatusMousy Plume Moth
- Orthonama obstipataThe Gem
- Palthis asopialisFaint-Spotted Palthis
- Ponometia exiguaBicolored Bird-Dropping Moth
Show all 19
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
- Adaina bipunctatus
- Hellinsia lacteodactylus
- Phyllocnistis insignis
75BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Packera
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
4Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Senecio
- Andrena gardineri
- Andrena senticulosa
- Osmia coloradensis
- Perdita octomaculata
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Senecio
- Haemorhous mexicanusHouse Finch
- Spinus psaltriaLesser Goldfinch
- Spinus tristisAmerican Goldfinch
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–9b
- Flower color
- Yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Spring” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) differs)
- Flower color · “Yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “Up to about 28 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox differs)
- Spread · “1–2 feet” · Hummingbird Hill Native Plant Nursery: Packera anonyma
Also known as
Appalachian Ragwort; Senecio smallii; Smalls Ragwort; groundsel
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications