''Senecio ertterae'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Ertter's ragwort. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.''Senecio ertterae''.
The Nature Conservancy. This annual herb grows 20 to 50 centimeters tall, sometimes reaching 60 centimeters or more. The leaves and stems are slightly

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

. The lance-shaped or spatula-shaped leaves are borne on winged petioles. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a cyme-shaped array of several

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

. The yellow ray florets are each about half a centimeter long.''Senecio ertterae''.
Flora of North America. Flowering occurs in July through October. This species occurs in the

Leslie Gulch Leslie Gulch is a canyon in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It is on the east side of Owyhee Lake, a reservoir on the Owyhee River. Its abundant and striking rock formations are made of tuff. The gulch was named after a local rancher, H ...

in eastern Oregon, in

Malheur County Malheur County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,571. Its county seat is Vale, and its largest city is Ontario. The county was named after the Malheur River, which runs thr ...

. It is limited to soils of

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

and

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

. The terrain is subject to disturbance, such as flooding and erosion. Other plants in the sparsely vegetated habitat include ''

Pseudoroegneria spicata ''Pseudoroegneria spicata'' is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms ''Elymus spicatus'' and ''Agropyron spicatum''. The g ...

'' (bluebunch wheatgrass), ''

Bromus tectorum ''Bromus tectorum'', known as downy brome, drooping brome or cheatgrass, is a winter annual grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa, but has become invasive in many other areas. It now is present in most of Europe, southe ...

'' (cheatgrass), ''

Mimulus cusickii ''Diplacus cusickii'' is a species of monkeyflower known by the common name Cusick's monkeyflower. It is native to the western United States, where it can be found in parts of the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin. It grows in moist spots in ba ...

'' (Cusick's monkeyflower), ''

Eriogonum vimineum ''Eriogonum vimineum'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name wickerstem buckwheat. It is native to the Northwestern United States, California, and Nevada where it is common to abundant in many types of habitat, including the S ...

'' (broom buckwheat), and ''

Phacelia hastata ''Phacelia hastata'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Its common names include silverleaf scorpionweed,

'' (silverleaf phacelia).''Senecio ertterae''.
Center for Plant Conservation. An annual species, this plant may be much more prevalent in years with sufficient rainfall. At times it is locally abundant.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7450390 ertterae Flora of Oregon Malheur County, Oregon Plants described in 1978 Flora of Northern America Endemic flora of Oregon Endemic flora of the United States