Packera anonyma – Appalachian Groundsel

This groundsel grows in meadows and open woods throughout eastern North America – its stronghold is the central Appalachian Mountains, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas. There’s one record of the plant in New York, but it seems likely to be an introduction. It was formerly named Senecio smallii. Flat-topped clusters of bright yellow flowers rise above rosettes of attractive paddle-shaped foliage. It’s more of a clumper than its more commonly available congener, Golden Groundsel (P. aurea), and it blooms a little later than that species while preferring a more well-drained soil (though it will tolerate quite a bit of winter wet). Like its congeners it’s an important food source for a wide variety of pollinators and is generally shunned by deer.