Citation: Belcher, Ann. Miss. Bot. Gard. 43:43 (1956).

Synonymy: S. flaccidus sensu A. Rich. Voy. l'Astrolabe 2:110 (1834), non Less.; Erechtites sonchoides sensu DC., Prod. 6:296 (1838), non S. sonchoides Kunth; E. prenanthoides sensu J. Black, Fl.S. Aust. 609 (1929), non DC. , Senecio minimus

Common name: Jagged fireweed, groundsel.

Description:
Erect subglabrous annual herb, 60-100 cm high; stems stout, striate, branched mainly at the inflorescence, generally glabrous, minutely hispid basally; leaves thin, sometimes membranous, broadly lanceolate or ovate, 6-14 x 2.5-5 cm, irregularly biserrate with primary teeth cut in halfway to the midrib, the teeth directed forward, sessile with lacerate auricles, glabrous or with a few long hairs along the veins.

Inflorescence a rather dense terminal corymbose panicle of 100-400 capitula; peduncles 5-8 mm long; involucre 6.5-7 x 2-3 mm, glabrous; calyculus of 2-5 narrowly triangular appressed bracteoles 0.8-1.3 mm long; bracts 7-9; female florets 12-17, 3- or 4-lobed; bisexual florets 6-8, 5-lobed.

Achenes subcylindrical, 2-3 x 0.3-0.4 mm, with 8-10 rounded ribs; hairs short, appressed or spreading, in channels between the ribs, those of the female florets olivegreen, those of the bisexual florets dark-brown; pappus deciduous, dimorphic.

Distribution:  Most frequent in areas of more than 600 mm rainfall, usually near the coast in wet sclerophyll forests on clay or sandy clay, or near beaches on coastal sand; less frequent inland. S.Aust.: SE.   N.S.W.; Vic.; Tas.   New Zealand. Conservation status: native Flowering time: Oct. — March.

SA Distribution Map based on current data relating to specimens held in the State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available