Ontario
Weeds: Common groundsel
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Common groundsel, Senecio vulgaris
L.,
Other Names: séneçon vulgaire,
séneçon commun
Family: Composite or Aster Family (Compositae)
General Description: Annual, reproducing
only by seed.
Photos and Pictures
Stems & Roots: Stems erect or somewhat
reclining, often branched, 10-60cm (4-24in.) high, smooth, somewhat
fleshy; leaves alternate (1 per node), slightly fleshy, variable in
shape from smooth and almost without teeth to shallowly or deeply
lobed, with the lobes finely to coarsely and irregularly toothed;
lower leaves stalked, upper ones stalkless and often clasping the
stem.
Flowers & Fruit: Flower heads stalked
in clusters at the end of stems and branches; each flower head 5-10mm
(1/5-2/5in.) across, cylindrical or conic, without ray florets; disk
florets yellowish; involucral bracts (surrounding each flower head)
small, overlapping, usually with distinct black tips; seeds small,
short-hairy, with a prominent, white, hairy pappus. Flowers from June
to late autumn.
Habitat: Common groundsel occurs throughout
Ontario, often very abundantly, in gardens, row crops, waste places
and roadsides.
Similar Species: Young plants can be distinguished
by their irregularly lobed and toothed leaves without white milky
juice; older plants by their small conic-cylindrical flower heads
with black-tipped involucral bracts around the base of each head.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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