Roldana petasitis

Roldana petasitis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Roldana
Species:
R. petasitis
Binomial name
Roldana petasitis
Synonyms[1][2]

Senecio petasitis (Sims) DC.
Cineraria petasitis Sims

Roldana petasitis, also known as the velvet groundsel or Californian geranium,[3] is a species of the genus Roldana and family Asteraceae that used to be classified in the genus Senecio. It is native to Central America.

Description

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Leaf detail

It is an evergreen subshrub that thrives in constant heat and prefers sheltered gardens. Growing up to 1.8 m tall, it features weak stems, large softly hairy, venated, palmate leaves that are 20 cm long and wide at most, with seven or more broad, blunt lobes.[4]

Inflorescences

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The 8 to 10 mm long, yellow flowerheads, like daisies, of about 6 ray ligulate petals are borne in foliaceous panicles. The plant blooms from winter to early spring.[3]

Varieties

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'Roldana p. var. cristobalensis' is a variety of this plant which features leaves with purple undersides.[5][6] 'Roldana petasitis var. oaxacana' and 'sartorii' are other varieties.[7][8]

Distribution

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The plant is native to the subtropical highlands (Sierra Madre del Sur) of Oaxaca in Mexico, south to the tropics in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.[9][10]

Climatically, it is found in the tropical savanna climates grading into the drier semi-arid or temperate wet/dry areas, where it is present from Veracruz in the north to Nicaragua in the south, in both pine-oak and mountain cloud forests between 1,000m and 2,500m. The 'cristobalensis' variety is found in Chiapas, the southernmost Mexican state, and in Guatemala between elevations 1,000m and 1,600m.[11] It is naturalized in parts of southeastern Australia and New Zealand.[12]

Neotropic
Mexico Southwest: Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca
Mesoamerica: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
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References

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  1. ^ Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). "PLANTS Profile, Roldana petasitis". The PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  2. ^ "Roldana petasitis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  3. ^ a b Velvet Groundsel Better Homes & Gardens. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  4. ^ Roldana petasitis (Sims) H.Rob. & Brettell PlantNET. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  5. ^ Roldana petasitis var. cristobalensis (Greenm.) FunstonBoard of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. ^ Senecio cristobalensis syn. Roldana petasitis var. cristobalensis Special Plants.net by Derry Watkins. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. ^ Roldana petasitis var. oaxacana (Hemsl.) Funston Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. ^ Roldana petasitis var. sartorii (Sch.Bip. ex Hemsl.) Funston Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. ^ Steven Foster's Images of Senecio petasitis, Roldana petasitis, Velvet Grounsel, California geranium Steven Foster Photography
  10. ^ Taxonomic Revision of Roldana (Asteraceae: Senecioneae), a Genus of the Southwestern U.S.A., Mexico, and Central America1 Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden by A. Michele Funston. January 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  11. ^ Roldana cristobalensis (formerly Senecio cristobalensis…now, Roldana petasitis var. cristobalensis) GardenRiots Horticultural Forays Into a Changing Urban World
  12. ^ Roldana petasitis (Sims) H. Rob. & Brettell Environmental Weeds of Australia.
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Media related to Roldana petasitis at Wikimedia Commons