Tephroseris palustris (Marsh Ragwort) - photos and description
Flower heads with small, black flies in them.
Lower stem leaf in above photo.
Upper stem leaf in above photo.
A couple of acres of Tephroseris palustris around a prairie slough,
didn't have a wide angle lens with me to capture it all.
Origin: Native.
General: Large annual with stout, hollow, woolly hairy stems. The stems are light green in colour. Stems measured to 4 cm wide.
Flowers: Flower heads many, in crowded terminal and axillary panicles, we measured a flower head at 2 cm diameter. Flowers have a slight scent.
Leaves: Leaves are mostly alternate, the lower leaves are lanceolate with winged stalks and wavy margins, the lower stem leaf highlighted above was 18 cm long by 3.5 cm wide. The upper stem leaves are lanceolate, stalkless, have large teeth, clasp the stem somewhat, the upper stem leaf highlighted in the photo above was 17.5 cm long by 4.5 cm wide. There are long hairs on leaf tops, and hairs on the nerves on leaf bottoms.
Height: Height is listed Flora of Alberta to 80 cm, we measured plants to 137 cm tall.
Habitat: Edges of sloughs, lakes, and stream banks in the parklands and boreal forest.
Abundance: Common.
Synonym: Listed in many of the field guides we use as Senecio congestus and Senecio palustris.
When and where photographed: Photos taken June 6th, shore of wetland, parklands, about 160 km southeast of our home in Regina, SK. It took me 3 hours to take these photos as I photographed during short periods of shade from scattered cumulus cloud on this afternoon.