Packera cardamine (Heartleaf Groundsel)
SENECIO CARDAMINE GREENE
| USFWS | State of NM | USFS | BLM | Navajo Nation | State Rank | Global Rank | R-E-D Code | NMRPTC Status | Strategy Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEN | S2 | G3 | 2-1-2 | R | SS |
| Overall Conservation Status | Documented Threats | Actions Needed |
|---|---|---|
| MODERATELY CONSERVED | Fire & fire suppression |
Population trend monitoring, seed banking. Survey for intact populations in unburnd areas. |
Perennial herb; herbage glabrous; stems 2-5 dm tall; leaves mostly basal, heart-shaped to nearly round, petiolate, semisucculent, blades 2-5 cm long and across; upper stem leaves few, sessile, clasping, longer than wide; inflorescence of 1-3 flower heads teminating stems; heads about 1 cm high; phyllaries narrow, in a single series; ray flowers 8-10 per head, about 5 mm long, yellow; disk flowers yellow, numerous; pappus of numerous white capillary bristles; achenes glabrous. Flowers late April to August.
This species should not be confused with any other Packera. Its broadly rounded basal leaf blades are distinctive.
New Mexico, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains; adjacent Arizona, White Mountains.
Steep slopes and forest understory in upper montane coniferous forest; 2,440-3,050 m (8,000-10,000 ft).
An endemic to climax spruce-fir forest in the high mountains of southwestern New Mexico and adjacent Arizona. Populations are small and sporadic, but not infrequent in suitable habitat. The dark green, heart-shaped, semisucculent leaves resemble Cardamine and inspired the specific epithet of this species' name.
Many populations of this species burned in the 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire (Roth 2016). Although plants survived the fire, long-term persistence is questionable in a completely altered habitat. A 2019 surveys found populations completely gone at elevations below 8,800ft, but populations persist at higher elevations (Roth 2019).
*New Mexico Native Plants Protection Advisory Committee. 1984. A handbook of rare and endemic plants of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Barkley, T.M. 1978. Senecio. In: North American flora, series 2. 10:50-139.
Weber, W.A. and Àskell Löve. 1981. New combinations in the genus Packera (Asteraceae). Phytologia 49:44-50.
Roth, D. 2016. Wildfire Impacts on Species of Concern Plants in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico. Unpublished report prepared by EMNRD-Forestry Division, Santa Fe, NM for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Region 2, Albuquerque, NM. 48 pp.
Roth, D. 2019. Post-fire Status Report Heartleaf Groundsel (Packera cardamine) Mogollon Death Camas (Anticlea mogollonensis). Unpublished report prepared by EMNRD-Forestry Division, Santa Fe, NM for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Region 2, Albuquerque, NM.
For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico