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Blue Ridge Ragwort

Packera millefolium

Found in granitic domes, cliffs, and rocky woodlands, over granite, gneiss, schist, and amphibolite, and (in sw. VA) in calcareous glades and woodlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

85
Keystone

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

Profile 94%

Height
Up to about 2 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
April and June

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 2 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

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

1 of 5

Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop
Rock outcrop on a mountain summit. Shown: Sassafras Mountain, on the North Carolina and South Carolina line, a neighboring state.Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record. Faithful JPEG display decode of embedded JP2; no AI or color enhancement. Phone derivative resized proportionally.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County
Limestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 106 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Senecio

  • Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
  • Calephelis borealisLittle Metalmark
  • 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
  • Papaipema insulidensRagwort Stem Borer
Show all 21
  • 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
  • Adaina bipunctatus
  • Agonopterix senicionella
  • Hellinsia lacteodactylus
  • 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
Flower color
Orange or yellow
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Senecio millefolium; groundsel

Conservation status

Virginia rankS2
Global rankG3
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources