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Plant Profile

San Francisco Peaks Ragwort (Packera franciscana)

This low growing perennial grows in the only alpine habitat in Arizona. Photo Credit: Janette Milne

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Threatened
Family: Asteraceae
State: AZ
Nature Serve ID: 148097
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 01/01/1985

Description:

The San Francisco Peaks groundsel is found only on the talus slopes in the alpine zone on San Francisco Peaks. San Francisco Peaks is a strato-volcano that rises abruptly from 2130 meters (7000 feet) to an elevation of 3852 meters (12,633 feet). This volcano is located north of Flagstaff, Arizona, and is the highest point in the southwestern United States. It is the home of the only true alpine zone in Arizona. (Goodwin 1978) Senecio franciscanus is a dwarf perennial alpine plant that grows low to the rocky ground where it is found, to a height of only 3 to 10 cm (1.25-4 inches). Flowering stems emerge from ruffled-edge leaves with purple undersides. These stems hold clusters of one to six flowers that each contain 8 to 13 yellow ray flowers. (Barkley 1968; USFWS 1982)

Where is San Francisco Peaks Ragwort (Packera franciscana) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Found in alpine tundra areas of southwestern spruce-fir forests on talus slopes between elevations of 10,991 and 12,303 feet. (USFWS 1982)

Distribution:

Found only on San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. (USFWS 1982)

States & Provinces:

San Francisco Peaks Ragwort can be found in Arizona

Which CPC Partners conserve San Francisco Peaks Ragwort (Packera franciscana)?

The Arboretum at Flagstaff

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation (USDA-ARS)

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 10/07/21

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Sheila Murray

10/03/2022

CPC received a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for a project entitled, “RNA integrity as a powerful metric of aging in preserved seed collections of wild rare plant species”, and as part of this grant The Arboretum at Flagstaff collected seeds for Packera franciscana, or the San Francisco Peaks Ragwort. We collected just about 1000 seeds from one population in September 2022. These fresh seeds will be compared to older seed we collected from the same population to find out how fast rare seeds are losing their viability in storage. We managed to squeak in our collection this year despite the area being affected by the Pipeline Fire. The fire burned very hot and across large portions of the Ragwort’s range, and the Forest Service issued a closure area for the entire mountain. Luckily they were able to reassess the damage, and reduced the size of the closure area just in time for us to collect seeds.

Center for Plant Conservation

08/19/2021

In 2021, CPC contracted the Arboretum at Flagstaff to recollect seed from a population currently held in long term orthodox seed storage as part of an IMLS-funded seed longevity experiment. The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation will evaluate how germination tested viability and RNA Integrity of seed lots decline over time in storage.

10/06/2020

In fall 2017, The Arboretum at Flagstaff has been preparing packets of Packera franciscana propagules, a critically impaired or G1 listed endangered species found only on the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona, for seed banking at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado. With funding provided by the USDA USFS Region 3 Forests Project and the Bureau of Land Management’s Seeds of Success Program, the Arboretum has collected eight species from 12 populations (totaling over 73,000 seeds!) that are important for conservation and research. Collecting trips have ranged from western Arizona, dipping into the Mohave Desert and north to the Arizona Strip, as well as to the top of Agassiz Peak just outside Flagstaff (CPC November 2017 Newsletter).

10/06/2020

Katherine Heineman

11/16/2017

In fall 2017, The Arboretum at Flagstaff has been preparing packets of Packera franciscana propagules, a critically impaired or G1 listed endangered species found only on the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona, for seed banking at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado. With funding provided by the USDA USFS Region 3 Forests Project and the Bureau of Land Management’s Seeds of Success Program, the Arboretum has collected eight species from 12 populations (totaling over 73,000 seeds!) that are important for conservation and research. Collecting trips have ranged from western Arizona, dipping into the Mohave Desert and north to the Arizona Strip, as well as to the top of Agassiz Peak just outside Flagstaff (CPC November 2017 Newsletter).

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Packera franciscana is a narrow endemic that occupies approximately 325 acres on one small high altitude mountain in northern Arizona. Plants are locally common along a narrow saddle that connects two mountain tops. This low growing perennial primarily reproduces by mat-forming rhizomes, with total ground-cover rarely exceeding 10%; generally between a trace and 2%. The area is heavily used for recreation and the unstable talus-slope habitat is easily disrupted by off-trail hiking and climbing in the summer, and winter avalanches. Soil moisture seems to be a dominant limiting factor.

Joyce Maschinski, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Threats include; Trampling from off-trail hiking Natural disturbances, such as avalanches on the steep talus slopes where the species resides (USFWS 1983)

Joyce Maschinski, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Approximately 5000 individuals occur in discrete patches in an area of less than 2.6 square kilometers on the San Francisco Peaks. (USFWS 1983)

Joyce Maschinski, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

None known.

Joyce Maschinski, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

U.S.F.S. have diverted trails away from where plants are growing. Interpreters at the top of the ski lift help to explain the reason for protecting the species and curb visitors from cutting across the plant habitat.