Packera aurea (L.) Á. Löve & D. Löve

vernacular golden ragwort — species · Asteraceae

USDA: PAAU3
GBIF: 3114043
Rank: species

golden ragwort (Packera aurea) — Platephotograph · NicholasCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus: Packera

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Low
Moisture use: High
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 120 min.
Precipitation: 15–55 in/yr
pH range: 4.5–8.5
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 3.9 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 450,000
Propagation: seed, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PAAU3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3114043 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z