Packera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve, formerly Senecio aureus L., is golden ragwort or heart-leaved groundsel. It is a moist-meadow and streamside perennial of eastern North America and has been moved out of Senecio entirely into the segregate genus Packera under current taxonomy. It is not a succulent.
This page exists to disambiguate, since visitors occasionally arrive at a succulent website looking for "senecio aureus" care. Part of the Complete Senecio Guide.
What the plant actually is
- Rhizomatous perennial wildflower, 30–80 cm tall at flowering.
- Basal leaves simple, heart-shaped with toothed margins, 2–7 cm long on long petioles; stem leaves pinnately lobed and progressively smaller up the stem.
- Bright yellow daisy-like flower heads in flat-topped clusters in spring.
- Spreads steadily by rhizomes to form a ground-cover colony.
Native habitat: wet woodland, streambanks, and moist meadows of the eastern United States and south-eastern Canada. Hardy to USDA zone 3.
Why this is not a succulent
The leaves are thin and non-water-storing. The plant does not tolerate drought and does not belong in a mineral-heavy substrate. A care regime drawn from the Complete Senecio Guide will kill Packera aurea within one summer. It belongs in a native-plant or shade-garden context, not a succulent collection.
Brief care
- Partial shade to full sun in moist soil.
- Average to rich garden loam; consistently moist; tolerates wet feet.
- No special drainage needed; drainage of succulent substrates is actively harmful here.
- Deer-resistant and largely pest-free.
- Divide rhizomes every 3–4 years to maintain vigour.
For full native-plant cultivation advice, consult a regional wildflower reference.
Notes
Like most Senecio / Packera, P. aurea contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is mildly toxic to livestock and humans in chronic ingestion. Used historically in folk medicine, but this use is not safe by modern pharmacological standards.
If you were expecting a succulent
The nearest thing to "golden" in the succulent Senecio / Curio group is the yellow-flowered Senecio barbertonicus (succulent bush senecio) or the yellow-flowered Curio repens. See:
- Senecio barbertonicus — yellow-flowered shrubby succulent.
- Senecio mandraliscae — blue chalksticks.
- Complete Senecio Guide — the true succulent group.
See also
- Senecio integerrimus — another North American Packera.
- Senecio triangularis — arrowleaf ragwort.
- Senecio vulgaris — common groundsel, another non-succulent relative.