Packera species were for a considerable time placed in the Senecio genus.  The Flora of North America and The Synthesis accept William Weber's 1981 genus name, Packera, but Intermountain Flora and A Utah Flora still accept Senecio as the name of this genus. 

   John Packer was a Canadian botanist.  (More biographical information about Packer.)

   See more Packera.

   Click to see how Packera is distinguished from Senecio.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 26, 2011 and
Sanborn Park Road, Uncompahgre National Forest, May 30, 2014.

Packera multilobata frequently spreads over wide areas, producing a spectacular sight or it can occur in scattered, picturesque bundles.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer.
Left: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 13 and 31, 2004.
Below: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 3, 2023.

Common in Canyon Country in mid-spring, Packera multilobata produces small but numerous bright yellow flower heads atop many, deeply cut, lobed leaves.  Packera multilobata brightens shady Cottonwood groves, Pinyon/Juniper forests, and open, sandy, arid areas.

"Multilobata", Latin, means "many lobed" and refers to the numerous leaf indentations (which commonly have a blue cast to them). The upper side of the leaves shown below is arachnoid (cobweb-like) hairy; the underside is glabrous. Typically the entire plant is glabrous with some hairiness in the leaf axils.

John Fremont collected the first specimens of this plant for science in the 1840s in California and John Torrey and Asa Gray named the plant Senecio multilobatus in 1849.  In 1981 Weber and Löve removed a number of species from the Senecio genus and placed them in a new genus, Packera. Click to read about the distinction between these two genera.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 13, 2004.

Packera multilobata might at first appear to have only disk flowers but eventually the ray flowers do appear.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 13, 2004.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer. 
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, June 12, 2005.

By early summer, Packera multilobata flowers have withered and silky pappus hairs are ready to carry seeds on summer breezes.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer. 
Carpenter Natural Area, Cortez, August 20, 2016.

Our pup, Willi, contemplates a landscape of scores of Packera multilobata in their rust colors.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Packera multilobata