Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows (especially wet ones), Oak brush. Spring, summer.
Far western San Juan National Forest, June 16, 2019.

Senecio integerrimus commonly joins Delphinium nuttallianum for an early summer spectacular show. Lithophragma tenellum, the numerous white dots, make it a grand trio.

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows (especially wet ones), Oak brush. Spring, summer.
Narraguinnep Natural Area, May 28, 2004.
El Diente Trail, July 22, 2004.

Senecio integerrimus is quite slender with a very proper upright posture. The stem and leaves of young Senecio integerrimus are usually thickly covered with cob-webby hairs but later in the season some, or even most, of the hairs may fall off; mature leaves can have tiny teeth; phyllaries are red-to-black tipped; the flower head is tightly packed; most leaves are basal and nearly vertical; and stem leaves are few, clasping, and reduced in size. 

This is a common plant in montane and subalpine wetlands but it also prospers in dry Oak and Spruce forests and Sagebrush.  Both photographs at left show the plant in wet meadows: Narraguinnep is at 8,500 feet and the meadow below El Diente is at 11,200 feet.  In drier areas or subalpine/alpine meadows, Senecio integerrimus can be just six inches tall.

Thomas Nuttall collected the first specimens of this plant for science in 1811 on the plains near the Missouri River in what is now Montana.  He named and described the plant in his Genera of North American Plants in 1818. (Click the title to read.) Click to see the specimen of Senecio integerrimus that Nuttall collected and that is now housed in the Natural History Museum in London.

"Integerrimus" is from the Latin, "integer" for "entire, whole, or complete" and "rimus" is the superlative, thus "completely entire or unbroken", perhaps referring to the "entire" (smooth-edged) leaves or to the compact cluster of flowers. "Senecio" is from the Latin, "senes", "old man", and refers to the pappus hairs, the tiny, often silvery, bristle, hair, or awn growth at the apex of the seeds in Asteraceae.

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows (especially wet ones), Oak brush. Spring, summer.
Can Do Trail near Dolores, April 22, 2009.
Narraguinnep Natural Area, May 10, 2006.
Far Western San Juan National Forest, May 15, 2018.

Almost all young plants are covered in long, cob-webby hairs.

Basal leaves are sometimes glabrous (without hairs).

Mature plants often have lost their hairs.

Notice the marked difference in the shades of green in the photographs on this page.

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows (especially wet ones), Oak brush. Spring, summer.
Narraguinnep Natural Area, May 28, 2004.

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 Senecio integerrimus