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Butterweed

Packera glabella

In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in swamp forests, bottomland forests, cleared areas in bottomlands, wet agricultural fields, ditches, often in mucky soils. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you

83
Keystone

Native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 100%

Height
About 3.2 feet
Light
Sun, Part shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual
Bloom
March and June
Fruiting season
Spring

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 39 Arkansas counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Swamps

Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Arkansas. Shared habitat, not food. 71 animals.

All wildlife of Arkansas

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

19CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR

Genus host records with ranges including AR · Senecio

  • Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
  • Calephelis borealisLittle Metalmark
  • Emmelina monodactylaMorning-Glory Plume Moth
  • Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
  • Eupithecia absinthiataWormwood Pug, Composite Pug
  • Hellinsia kellicottiiGoldenrod Borer Plume Moth
  • Homoeosoma electellaSunflower 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 c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
  • Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
  • Hellinsia lacteodactylus
  • Phyllocnistis insignis
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
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
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Asteraceae
Flower color
Yellow
Growth rate
Moderate
Growth habit
Grows in clumps
Foliage color
Green
Fruit begins
Spring
Fruit ends
Spring

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Senecio glabellus; Smooth Ragwort; Smooth Yellowtop; groundsel

Conservation status

Arkansas rankSNR
Global rankG5
AR statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources