Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Senecio vulgaris
Common name
Common Groundsel
Family
Asteraceae
Where found
Woodland, disturbed sites, urban areas, and cultivation. Mainly Sydney area and Canberra-Queanbeyan. Occasional elsewhere.
Notes
Introduced annual herb to about 0.5 m high, hairless or with scattered hairs. Plants somewhat fleshy, the bases usually purplish. Leaves alternating up the stems, usually 3–10 cm long, 6–20 mm wide, surfaces with scattered, long hairs or rarely hairless, margins dissected and coarsely toothed; lower leaves tapered toward the base, upper leaves with broad, stem-clasping bases. Flower heads 5–7 mm long, bell-shaped or broadly cylindrical, with 0 petals, surrounded by 13–23 appressed black-tipped bracts. Florets 40–70, about as long as the flower heads. Flower heads in congested clusters, usually with about 6–25 flower heads. Flowers most of year.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Senecio~vulgaris (accessed 7 February, 2021)
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