About Senecio aronicoides DC.
Senecio aronicoides, a flowering plant species in the aster family, has the common name rayless ragwort. It is native to Oregon, and northern and central California, where it grows in woodlands and forests of mountains and foothills, most often in relatively dry habitats. This species is a biennial or perennial herb that reaches up to approximately 90 centimeters tall. It grows from a fleshy root connected to a button-shaped caudex, and the whole plant often has a slightly woolly or cobweb-like texture. Its leaves bear lance-shaped to oval leaf blades that reach up to 20 centimeters long, with the largest leaves located lower on the stem. The inflorescence is a flat, spreading corymb that often resembles an umbel. The flower heads form cup-like structures lined with phyllaries tipped in black or green, and are filled with numerous gold-colored disc florets. Most flower heads have no ray florets, though one or two may occasionally grow from a single head. The fruit produced is a hairless achene, tipped with a pappus made of long, white bristles.
