Balsam Ragwort
Packera paupercula
Native to West Virginia (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- Up to about 2 feet
- Light
- Part shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
Bloom: NC species account not read yet.
Spread and leaves: no source found yet.
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
County records are not available.
Who uses this plant?
16CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · 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
- Orthonama obstipataThe Gem
- Palthis asopialisFaint-Spotted Palthis
- Papaipema insulidensRagwort Stem Borer
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Show all 16
- 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
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
- Flower color
- Yellow
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Part shade” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Also known as
Appalachian Groundsel; Appalachian Rag Wort; Appalachian Ragwort; Balsam Groundsel; groundsel
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV 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
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- West Virginia occurrence source
- 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