Senecio angulatus
| Senecio angulatus | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Creeping groundsel | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Senecioneae |
| Genus: | Senecio |
| Species: | S. angulatus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Senecio angulatus L.f. (1781) |
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| Range of S. angulatus | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Senecio macropodus DC. |
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Senecio macropodus DC.
Sources: IPNI, AFPD, GRIN, NZPND, ALUKA
Senecio angulatus also known as Creeping groundsel and sometimes as Cape ivy is a climbing succulent perennial from the family Asteraceae of the genus Senecio; a native of South Africa an alien in Australia, a problem weed in New Zealand, naturalized in North Africa, and cultivated elsewhere.
Senecio tamoides has been misapplied in Australia and is currently considered to be Senecio angulatus.
Described as scrambling and as a twining herb whose form is a dense tangled shrub 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall or a climber to 6 metres (20 ft) high, that can become an aggressive weed once established smothering the existing native vegetation both in the ground layer and canopy and altering the light climate in the invaded community and sometimes suppressing the regeneration of native plants.
Stems and leaves: Succulent, pale green stems, often variegated with pale yellow green and purple, slightly angular (not upright) and usually sparingly branched. Neither stems nor leaves are hairy.
Thick, glossy, fleshy, coarsely toothed leaves, with one to three teeth each side and bluntly lobed, with upper leaves becoming smaller with fewer teeth or none at all. Leaves are 3.7 centimetres (1.5 in) to 22 centimetres (8.7 in) long and 1 centimetre (0.39 in) to 14 centimetres (5.5 in) wide and occur in 1-4 pairs. Leaf stalks are 1 centimetre (0.39 in) to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long. The leaves have stalks or stems which embrace the larger leaf surface which is not lobed, oval to triangularly shaped or very blunt to pointed at the tips and blunt to flat at the base. The leaves have a frosted look from a powdery coating on the lower side.
Senecio angulatus will climb if suitable support available.
It can be distinguished vegetatively from Senecio mikanioides by the lack of lobes at the leaf stalk base, the fleshy leaf surface, the outwardly curved leaf teeth.
Flowers: Senecio angulatus produces numerous flowers in open clusters at the end of its branches or stems. Strongly scented flowers on an elongated stem that continue to open in succession from the base up as the stem continues to grow; the mass of clusters ending more flat at the top than pyramid-like, 4 centimetres (1.6 in) to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) in diameter. Often the cluster droops with the flower heads at the end of the cluster turning upwards.
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Wikipedia