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Golden ragwort

Packera aurea

Also called Golden Groundsel, Golden Squaw Weed, Heart Leaf Groundsel, Liferoot, Squaw Weed, Heart Leaved Groundsel

Golden ragwort
Photo: Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), GFDL 1.2
Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Perennial
Native range
Canada to U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Packera aurea (formerly Senecio aureus), commonly known as golden ragwort or simply ragwort, is a perennial flower in the family Asteraceae.

It is also known as golden groundsel, squaw weed, life root, golden Senecio, uncum, uncum root, waw weed, false valerian, cough weed, female regulator, cocash weed, ragweed, staggerwort, and St. James wort.

Uses

In contemporary times, P. aurea is not much used due to its saturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause liver veno-occlusive disease upon metabolism. If used, a PA-free extract would be required for safe use for more than a two-week course.

Other Packera plants

Packera actinella · Small's ragwort · Shale barren ragwort · San Bernardino ragwort · Bolander's ragwort · Brewer's ragwort · Woolly groundsel · Bittercress ragwort · Beaver Mountain ragwort · Cleveland's ragwort · Widehead groundsel · Fendler's ragwort

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Packera aurea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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