Packera castoreus is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 known by the common names Beaver Mountain groundsel and Beaver Mountain ragwort. It is endemic to Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 in the United States, where it occurs only in the Tushar Mountains

Tushar Mountains

The Tushar Mountains are the third highest mountain range in Utah after the Uinta Mountains and the La Sal Range. Located in the Fishlake National Forest, Delano Peak, 12,174 ft  NAVD 88, is the highest point in both Beaver and Piute counties and has a prominence of 4,689 ft...

.

This small alpine

Alpine climate

Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....

 plant grows just a few centimeters tall with one or more woolly stems. The lower leaves have blades one or two centimeters long with woolly undersides. The flower heads

Head (botany)

The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....

 have purple-green, woolly phyllaries

Bract

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...

 and no ray florets.

There are about 7 to 10 known occurrences of this plant on the high slopes of the Tushar Mountains of central Utah, mostly within the Fishlake National Forest

Fishlake National Forest

Fishlake National Forest is located in south central Utah, USA. Its namesake is the largest freshwater mountain lake in the state.-Geography:...

. It occurs on Mt. Belknap and Gold Mountain, and probably other peaks. It grows on barren talus

Scree

Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...

 on windy, exposed mountain slopes in alpine tundra

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...

 habitat above the tree line. Other plants in the sparsely vegetated habitat include sky pilot

Polemonium viscosum

Polemonium viscosum is a flowering plant in the genus Polemonium native to western North America from southern British Columbia east to Montana and south to Arizona and New Mexico, where it grows at high altitudes on dry, rocky sites.It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 10-30 cm tall,...

 (Polemonium viscosum), Mt. Belknap draba

Draba ramulosa

Draba ramulosa is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names Mt. Belknap draba and Tushar Mountain draba. It is endemic to Utah, where it is known only from Mt. Belknap in the Tushar Mountains in Beaver and Piute Counties.This small plant has creeping, hairy...

 (Draba ramulosa), and various grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es.