''Packera franciscana'' ( syn. ''Senecio franciscanus'') is a rare species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the aster family known by the common name San Francisco Peaks groundsel, or San Francisco Peaks 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 ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the United States, where it is known only from the

San Francisco Peaks The San Francisco Peaks (Navajo: , es, Sierra de San Francisco, Hopi: ''Nuva'tukya'ovi'', Western Apache: ''Dził Tso'', Keres: ''Tsii Bina'', Southern Paiute: ''Nuvaxatuh'', Havasupai-Hualapai: ''Hvehasahpatch''/''Huassapatch''/''Wik'hanbaja'', ...

Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai p ...

. It is threatened by recreational activities in its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

Description

''Packera franciscana'' is a small

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

growing just a few centimeters tall. The purple or purple-tinged stems have woolly or cobwebby fibers. The basal leaves have

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

-shaped to somewhat oval blades measuring up to 2 centimeters long by 5 wide. They have ruffled edges and purple undersides.''Packera franciscana''.
Center for Plant Conservation. Retrieved July 26, 2011. Leaves higher on the stems are smaller and sometimes divided into lobes. 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 solitary

flower head 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 ...

or a few heads clustered together atop the woolly stem. The flower head is enclosed in hairy purple

phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or ...

and contains 8 or 13 yellow ray florets up to a centimeter long. The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

tipped with a pappus half a centimeter in length. Blooming occurs in August through October.''Packera franciscana''.
Flora of North America. Retrieved July 26, 2011. The plant reproduces sexually via seed, but more often

vegetatively Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...

by resprouting from its rhizome. Most plants occur in wide patches made up of several cloned stems, but some are solitary, having sprouted from seed.USFWS
''Packera franciscana'' Five-year Review.
October 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2011.

Distribution

''Packera franciscana'' grows on two of Arizona's San Francisco Peaks,

Humphreys Peak , photo = San Francisco Peaks, winter.jpg , photo_caption = Humphreys Peak in winter 2004 , elevation_ft = 12637 , elevation_ref = , prominence_ft = 6039 , prominence_ref = , range = San Francisco Peaks , isolation = , listing = , ...

and

Agassiz Peak Agassiz Peak is the second-highest mountain in the U.S. state of Arizona at . It is located north of Flagstaff, Arizona in the San Francisco Peaks. It is in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness on the Coconino National Forest. The peak was named in hono ...

, and the

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...

between them.''Packera franciscana''.
The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved July 26, 2011. These are the two tallest

mountain peaks A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a ...

in Arizona.Priest, S. S., et al
The San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona.
USGS Fact Sheet 017-01. Retrieved July 26, 2011.Highest Mountain Peaks in Arizona.
Mountainzone.com. Retrieved July 26, 2011. It grows in

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...

habitat in the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

talus of the mountain slopes, an area with little vegetation located above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

. This is the only alpine zone in Arizona. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

is between 3200 and 3800 meters, with most of the plants occurring between 3525 and 3605 meters.Fowler, J. F. and C. H. Sieg. (2011)
Density and elevational distribution of the San Francisco Peaks ragwort, ''Packera franciscana'' (Asteraceae), a threatened single-mountain endemic.
''Madroño'' 57(4) 213-19. The plant is apparently adapted to a

fellfield A fellfield or fell field comprises the environment of a slope, usually alpine or tundra, where the dynamics of frost (freeze and thaw cycles) and of wind give rise to characteristic plant forms in scree interstices. Soil dynamics The freeze-thaw ...

habitat made up of unstable talus, as evidenced by its long rhizome and

adventitious roots Important structures in plant development are buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers; plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant ...

which may not be anchored to any stable surface. As rocks tumble, the root may break, and pieces of the root can generate new plants through

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...

. Despite its being limited to a small area, the plant is common locally.

Habitat threats

Threats to this species include recreational activities such as

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

. Expansion of the

Arizona Snowbowl Arizona Snowbowl is an alpine ski resort in the southwest United States, located on the San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona, north of Flagstaff. The Snowbowl ski area covers approximately one percent of the San Francisco Peaks, and its slo ...

was likely to disturb the habitat, but construction was put on hold after a legal challenge. Conservation efforts have included the installation of trails away from spots where the plants are growing and the closing of alpine habitat to recreation except by permit. This mountaintop-dwelling plant may suffer during

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, because it cannot move to higher or colder habitat as warming occurs.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Packera franciscana''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7122960

franciscana The La Plata dolphin, franciscana or toninha (''Pontoporia blainvillei'') is a species of dolphin found in coastal Atlantic waters of southeastern South America. It is a member of the river dolphin group and the only one that lives in the ocean ...

Alpine flora Flora of Arizona Endemic flora of the United States Natural history of Coconino County, Arizona Critically endangered flora of the United States Taxa named by Edward Lee Greene