W175 



ARROWLEAF BUTTERWEED 



Sene'cio triangula'ris, syns. S. sa'liens, S. trigonophyl'lus 



IH.D. 



Outside (ray) flowers of head 6 to 12, 

 yellow, petal-like, female, seed-pro- 

 ducing 



Center (disk) flowers of head small, 

 yellow, tubular, perfect, seed-producing 



"Seeds" (achenes) hairless except for 

 the tuft at the tip of numerous, long, 

 soft, white, slender hairs (pappus) 



Flower heads several to numerous, 

 erect, about '/ in. high, in an open, 

 often flat-topped, end cluster (cyme) 



Bracts in a, bell-shaped, 1 -rowed series 

 (involucre) around flower head, equal, 

 broadly linear, thin, with several small 

 bracts at base 



Stems solitary to several, stout, erect, 

 1 to 6 ft. high, leafy, hairless 



Leaves alternate, triangular or lance- 

 shaped (lower leaves sometimes almost 

 heart-shaped), with usually sharply and 

 evenly toothed margins, abruptly con- 

 tracted at base, stalked 



Rootstock fleshy, compact, perennial 

 Roots fibrous, cordlike 



Arrowleaf butterweed, a tall, leafy perennial of the sunflower 

 family (Compositae), is one of the most palatable of the species of 

 groundsels in the western range States. Both the specific and part 

 of the common name allude to the triangular-shaped leaves, and 

 butterweed is appropriate because of the high palatability of the 

 plant whose yellow flowers are the same color as butter. This butter- 

 weed is seen from Alaska to Saskatchewan, New Mexico, and Cali- 

 fornia at elevations varying from 1,800 to 11.000 feet, and inhabits 

 areas running from the ponderosa pine belt, through the aspen and 

 spruce belts, to the subalpine zone. Arrowleaf butterweed is par- 

 ticularly abundant at the higher elevations and cooler sites, growing 



