View in other NatureServe Network Field Guides
	
		NatureServe
		
		Montana
		Utah
		Wyoming
		Idaho
		Wisconsin
		British Columbia
		
		South Carolina
		Yukon
		
		California
		New York
	
	
 
		
		 
     
	
		Common Groundsel - Senecio vulgaris
		
			
				Other Names:  
				Old-Man-in-the-Spring, Common Ragwort
				
			
		
		
		
		
	 
	
	 
		General Description
		Taprooted annual. Stems erect, sometimes branched, 10–50 cm. Herbage sparsely villous. Leaves basal and cauline; blades oblong to oblanceolate; dentate to pinnately lobed, sessile upward, 1–5 cm long. Inflorescence leafy-paniculate with 5 to 15 heads. Heads discoid; involucres narrow, 5–9 mm high; phyllaries ca. 21, glabrous. Disk corollas 4–6 mm long. Achenes ca. 2 mm, sparsely strigose (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
 
		
	
	
	Species Range
	
		
			Montana Range
		Range Descriptions
			
			
			
				
					
					Non-native
				 
			
				
					
			 
			
		 
		
	 
	
    		Range Comments
			Introduced throughout North America; native to Eurasia (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
			
		
		Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
		Number of Observations: 38
		
		
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
		Map Help and Descriptions
		
		
			
				Relative Density
				
			 
		
			
				Recency
				
			 
		
		 
		
			
				
			
				
			
					
				
			(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
		 
		
			
		
		
	
		Habitat
		
		
		
	
		Ecology
		POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: 
Bombus bifarius, 
Bombus flavifrons, 
Bombus frigidus, 
Bombus huntii, 
Bombus melanopygus, 
Bombus mixtus, 
Bombus sylvicola, 
Bombus occidentalis, 
Bombus insularis, 
Bombus suckleyi, 
Bombus flavidus, and 
Bombus kirbiellus (Schmitt 1980, Thorp et al. 1983, Mayer et al. 2000, Wilson et al. 2010, Pyke et al. 2012, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).
 
		
	
		Management
		
		
	
		Stewardship Responsibility
		
		
	
	References
	
		
			- Literature Cited AboveLegend:  
 View Online Publication
Koch, J., J. Strange, and P. Williams. 2012. Bumble bees of the western United States. Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Pollinator Partnership. 143 p.
Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
Mayer, D.F., E.R. Miliczky, B.F. Finnigan, and C.A. Johnson. 2000. The bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of southeastern Washington. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 97: 25-31.
Pyke, G.H., D.W. Inouye, and J.D. Thomson. 2012. Local geographic distributions of bumble bees near Crested Butte, Colorado: competition and community structure revisited. Environmental Entomology 41(6): 1332-1349.
Schmitt, J. 1980. Pollinator foraging behavior and gene dispersal in Senecio (Compositae). Evolution 34: 934-943.
Thorp, R.W., D.S. Horning, and L.L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble bees and cuckoo bumble bees of California (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 23:1-79.
Williams, P., R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla. 2014. Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 208 p.
Wilson, J.S., L.E. Wilson, L.D. Loftis, and T. Griswold. 2010. The montane bee fauna of north central Washington, USA, with floral associations. Western North American Naturalist 70(2): 198-207.
 
			- Additional ReferencesLegend:  
 View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
Fuller, W.L. 1997. Elk management strategies for sustainable beef cattle enterprises. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montnaa State University. 92 p.
Jones, W. W. 1901. Preliminary flora of Gallatin County. M.S. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State College. 78 pp.
Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
 
			- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Common Groundsel"