Packera obovata – Roundleaf Groundsel

Groundsels or ragworts are somewhat course plants but add a touch of sunshine to the spring garden and make effective groundcovers. Flat-topped clusters of bright yellow flowers rise above rosettes of attractive egg-shaped foliage. This groundsel, formerly named Senecio obovatus, is an inhabitant of moist to dry, usually calcareous woodlands. It’s native to most of eastern New York, including Ulster County. The flowers are attractive to a number of native bees which feed on both pollen and nectar. The foliage is toxic and is generally shunned by deer and rabbits. It’s a host plant for a very rare butterfly, the Northern Metalmark (Calephelis borealis). In New York, this butterfly has only been reported at a number of sites next door in Orange Co., never here in Ulster Co., but perhaps if you plant it, the butterfly will come. Groundsels can look a little bedraggled as they go to seed and can benefit from a shearing back to basal foliage.