Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Senecio bathurstianus

Common name

Bathurst fireweed

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, roadsides, disturbed sites, and rocky areas. Widespread.

Notes

Annual herb to 1.5 m high, with a single stem, or much-branched from a more or less woody base. Stems sparsely to densely hairy with strongly wavy coarse hairs. Leaves alternating up the stems, 3–15 cm long, 5-55 mm wide, lobed, usually with 4–6 segments per side, margins more or less toothed, upper leaves sometimes linear, surfaces bristly, lower surface sometimes tinged purple, sometimes with a cobwebby overlay, bases with well-developed auricles. Flower heads 3.5-7 mm long, cylindrical or narrow bell-shaped, with 0 petals, surrounded by 9–13 appressed green bracts. Florets 20–45, scarcely longer than the flower head. Flower heads in clusters usually of about 50-200 flower heads. Flowering: mainly spring and summer.

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Senecio~bathurstianus  (accessed 6 February, 2021)