Golden ragwort is a native herbaceous perennial wildflower in the Asteraceae (daisy) family. It is found growing in forests, swamps, ravines, or riparian areas in eastern North America to Texas as an herbaceous flowering plant. This native plant is fairly common in the mountains and Piedmont region of North Carolina where it is one of the first spring wildflowers to bloom. Plant it in full sun to partial shade in average, medium to wet, soils that should not be allowed to dry out. Plants that grow in sunlight require more moisture than plants growing in shade. Flowers will bloom in shady sites. It will self-seed and can colonize. It forms thick spreading mats and in the spring it sends up stalks of bright yellow flowers that attract many pollinators. The blooms will add some much needed brightness to darker spots in the landscape. The flowers can look unkempt after they die so cut them down to the leafy base of the plant or leave the seeds for birds. Allow it to naturalize in the landscape, use as a ground cover in shady wet areas, or along a border, in a bog, butterfly, or rain garden. It can be somewhat weedy. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No serious diseases or insect problems. It can be somewhat weedy.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Wet
Available space
Less than 12 inches; 12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 2 ft. 6 in. | Width: 0 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 6 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping
Texture
Fine
Foliage
Broadleaf Evergreen; Semi-evergreen
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Cordate
Leaf margin
Dentate; Lobed
Leaf size
3-6 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Stem leaves are alternate, often lobed or pinnately divided and toothed; heart-shaped basal leaves are bluntly toothed, slender-stalked and are 2 to 4 in. long; reddish purple below. Basal leaves remain on the plant in mild winter and lend to the ground cover appearance. The ground cover will remain throughout the growing season as long as consistent moisture is provided.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow; Purple/Lavender; White
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Corymb; Head
Flower shape
Radial
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
Yellow (rarely white or purple) head flowers 1" across in a flat topped corymb resembling a small sunflower. Petals and disk flowers are yellow. Cut back after flowering or leave the seeds for the birds.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit detail
Each flower is replaced by a bullet-shaped achene with a small tuft of white hairs. The achenes are distributed by the wind.
Stem detail
Oblong stem leaves are finely cut (pinnately lobed) and quite distinctive. Flowering stems typically rise 1 to 2 feet from basal clumps.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Eastern Canada and Eastern United States to Texas.
Distribution
Introduced into Germany.
Wildlife value
The blooms are attractive to butterflies, bees, and other insect pollinators. and seeds attract birds. The foliage is one of the few larval food sources for the northern metalmark butterfly.