Roldana petasitis

Roldana petasitis, also known as the velvet groundsel or Californian geranium, 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
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.

Inflorescences
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.

Varieties
'Roldana p. var. cristobalensis' is a variety of this plant which features leaves with purple undersides. 'Roldana petasitis var. oaxacana' and 'sartorii' are other varieties.

Distribution
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.

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. It is naturalized in parts of southeastern Australia and New Zealand.


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