Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Senecio queenslandicus

Common name

A fireweed

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Woodland, shrubland, grassland, and cleared land. Mainly Sydney area. One record from south of Cowra. Mostly north and west of the area covered by this key.

Notes

Herb to 0.4 m high. Stems sparsely to moderately cottony hairy, sometimes becoming almost hairless near the top. Leaves alternating up the stems, midstem leaves few, 5–10 cm long, with a length:width ratio of about 6-15, both surfaces usually sparsely bristly, becoming cobwebby or more or less hairless, margins occasionally coarsely toothed to lobed with 1–3 triangular lobes per side. Uppermost leaves narrow, with a length:width ratio of about 10-40. Flower heads 6–8 mm long, 2–2.5 mm in diameter, with 50–80 florets, 0 petals, surrounded by 12-18 appressed bracts. Flower heads in clusters of several to many flower heads, typically 10–50 per stem. Flowers most of the year, more so in spring–summer.

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