San Bernardino ragwort

Senecio bernardinus Greene, Pittonia 3: 298. 1898; S. bernardinus var. sparsilobatus (Parish) Greenman; S. ionophyllus Greene var. bernardinus (Greene) H. M. Hall; S. ionophyllus var. sparsilobatus (Parish) H. M. Hall; S. sparsilobatus Parish

Perennials, 15–30+ cm; fibrous-rooted (caudices branched, erect to suberect). Stems 1 (per rosette, rosettes clustered), lanate-tomentose to glabrescent. Basal leaves (and proximal cauline) petiolate; blades obovate to broadly spatulate, 5–20+ × 10–15 mm, bases tapering, margins subentire or dentate apically (faces lanate-tomentose to glabrescent). Cauline leaves gradually reduced (sessile; spatulate to linear, densely tomentose). Heads 2–8+ in compact cymiform arrays. Peduncles bracteate, densely lanate-tomentose. Calyculi 0. Phyllaries 13 or 21, green, 6–8 mm, lanate-tomentose, glabrate distally. Ray florets 8 or 13; corolla laminae 8–10 mm. Disc florets 35–50+; corolla tubes 2–2.5 mm, limbs 2–2.5 mm. Cypselae 0.75–1 mm, glabrous or hispid on ribs; pappi 3–4 mm. 2n = 46.

Flowering late May–late Jul. Dry rocky slopes, duff of pine forests; of conservation concern; 1700–2200 m; Calif.

Packera bernardina is known only from the San Bernardino Mountains and has been collected most frequently from Bear Valley.