Montane. Moist meadows and woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Haviland Lake, June 17, 2009.

Packera pseudaurea is not common in the Four Corners area, but it is occasionally found along moist trails and in moist meadows.  Leaves are mostly basal with long, thin petioles and shallow, even lobes or serrations.  The young plants at left have four inch long leaf petioles and the largest leaves are 1 1/2 inches long and almost 3/4 inch wide.  (See below for stem leaves.)  Flowers are on long stems (to 20 inches).  The plant can spread from its roots and occasionally one will find many plants giving a golden glow to meadows.

This plant was at first named Senecio pseudaureus by Rydberg in 1897 from a specimen collected in Montana.  In 1981 Weber and Love removed a number of species from the Senecio genus and placed them in a new genus, Packera.  John Packer is a Canadian botanist.  (More biographical information.) "Pseudo" is Greek for "false" and "aurea" is Latin for "gold".

Montane. Moist meadows and woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Haviland Lake, June 17, 2009.

Montane. Moist meadows and woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Haviland Lake, June 17, 2009.

Montane. Moist meadows and woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Haviland Lake, June 17, 2009.

Stem leaves are almost always quite different from basal leaves.  They are long (to two inches), narrow, serrated, and they clasp the stem.  Notice that the stem and leaves are nearly glabrous with just a few fine hairs.