Montane, subalpine, alpine. Meadows, openings. Summer.
Middle Calico Trail, August 9, 2004.

Senecio crassulus is a common plant of high meadows; often it is common above tree-line.  It grows eight-to-twenty inches tall with thick, dark green, coarsely-toothed, hairy, often vertical leaves that clasp the stem and often have winged petioles. 

Senecio crassulus ray petals are yellow to yellow-gold and the central disk flowers are golden.  Senecio crassulus often grows near the similar looking Dugaldia hoopesii which is, however, taller with larger flowers and leaves.  Senecio integerrimus, which also is common in high mountain meadows, has smaller flowers, few small leaves on the main stem, and is usually very much harrier than Senecio crassulus.

Charles Parry collected this plant in Colorado and it was named by Asa Gray in 1883.   "Crass" is Latin for "thick".  

Montane, subalpine, alpine. Meadows, openings. Summer.
Black Bear Pass Road, July 20, 2008.

Flower heads are large and showy with few, but long and narrow ray flowers.  Notice the bulging involucre, the green base of phyllaries in which the seeds develop.

Montane, subalpine. Disturbed areas, openings. Summer.
Sneffels Highline Trail, August 4, 2004.

Senecio eremophilus is a tall, stalky plant with small, bright yellow flowers.  It commonly grows to three feet tall, and its dark green, deeply incised leaves are hallmarks.  Senecio eremophilus is fairly common in mountain and subalpine areas, growing in soils or rocky areas.  Look for it also along roadsides.

John Richardson collected the first specimens of this plant for science when he was on the 1819-1822 Franklin Expedition in Canada and along the northern Pacific Coast.  He named the plant in 1823.  "Erem" is Greek for "lonely places" and "philo" for "loving".

Montane, subalpine. Disturbed areas, openings. Summer.
Sneffels Highline Trail, August 4, 2004.