Virginia ecotype
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Clumping, naturalizingSize: 1 - 3 ft. high / wide, usually half
Flowering time: April, May, June
Bloom color: Yellow with gold centers
Habitat: Prairies, meadows, rock outcrops, rocky woodlands, and hillsidesMoisture: Average to dry, well draining
Light: Full to part sunSoils: Clay, loamy, sandy, rocky
Uses: Prairie restorations, hillsides, front of borders, boulevard or hellstrip plantings
Packera anonyma (Appalachian ragwort)
Known as Appalachian ragwort or Small's ragwort, this tough and adaptable showy early bloomer doesn't get nearly as much love as its moisture-loving sibling, Packera aurea, Golden ragwort.
Appalachian ragwort tolerates many difficult or poor soil types, such as sand, clay, and gravel, and grows in dry conditions. It stakes out its claim in high competition plant communities filled with other tough weedy plants, frequently occuring within or nearby remnant populations of high quality prairies and grasslands. This ragwort can be found in average moisture meadows and woods as well, and actually prefer areas that are dry in the warm season, but moist in the cold season.
Clusters of yellow/gold blooms appear atop 2-3 foot tall stalks in mid-spring and bloom for about a month; an important source of nourishment for freshly emerged butterflies and bees. The Packera genus is also important for a rare specialist bee, Andrena gardineri, which has evolved to only feed on the flower's pollen in order to survive.
Packera anonyma sports spoon-shaped or sharply pinnate evergreen foliage, in cliumps rarely taller than 1 foot. Rather than spread widely by rhizomes, plants will naturalize by reseeding in areas with bare ground or low competition. The young plants are easy to divide and transplant in the fall, winter, or early spring. Very tough and dependable, and highly underutilized!