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

Keystone

Native to Florida. 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

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Packera anonyma — bloom photograph — Pieter Pelser · CC BY 3.0 · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Perennial
Bloom: Spring

Not yet recorded · Leaves

Recorded in 14 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

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

1 of 4

Named place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trees and rocks on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Named place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

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

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

20CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · 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 20

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
Platphalonidia felix

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
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

Florida rank	SNR
Global rank	G5
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Small's Ragwort

At a glance

Natural habitats

Who uses this plant?

Plant details

Conservation status

Will it fit your yard?

Sources

More Packera