How to Identify Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) This plant is common groundsel, a member of the family Asteraceae that is native to Europe and that has become naturalized worldwide. It is an annual or biennial that flowers indeterminately from spring to fall.
The plant has a main basal rosette of leaves from which grows a thin, branched stem. The stems are hollow and light green with darker stripes, and are smooth and hairless or sparsely hairy.
The leaves are arranged alternately up the stem, and are deeply toothed or compound. They are covered in fine, soft hairs, and the lower and basal leaves may develop a purple coloration on their undersides.
The upper portions of the stems will branch heavily into multiple flower heads. The flower heads have tiny, bright yellow disk flowers, and usually lack ray flowers. Once pollinated they will produce small white balls of tufted seeds.
The plant grows off a shallow taproot and only reproduces via seed.
Common groundsel likes moist, disturbed soil, and is common in fields, croplands, orchards, and gardens.
The plant is slightly toxic, and will can be very dangerous to livestock.
Common groundsel is a weed that frequently invades various cultivated crops, and often carries fungi that can cause significant damage to crop yields.
0 Comments