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Groundsel

Groundsel

Senecio vulgaris

Identify the Groundsel from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Very common

Alien species

Groundsel is a small, fast‑growing annual with yellow flower heads. It is a common weed of gardens, fields and waste ground across much of the world. Warning: all parts contain toxins that can damage the liver.

Did you know?

  • Its yellow heads usually have no outer “petals”, so they look like small yellow cylinders.
  • The seeds sit on a white tuft and drift off in the wind like tiny dandelions.

About the species

Identification

An upright, soft-stemmed annual, usually 20–40 cm tall, often branching. Stem smooth or only slightly hairy, sometimes purple near the base. Leaves are deeply lobed with coarse teeth; lower leaves have short stalks, upper leaves wrap the stem without a stalk and can look slightly shiny. Flower heads are narrow yellow cylinders about 1 cm long; the showy outer “petals” are usually missing. Each head sits in a green cup with narrow, black‑tipped scales. Later, brown seeds carry a white silky tuft. Not sticky to the touch (unlike sticky groundsel). Flowers in Finland from June to October; in warm autumns it may continue into late year.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

yards and roadsides

Toxicity

A poisonous plant – do not taste it. Source: HUS Poison Information Centre (Finland), tel. 0800 147 111.

Flowering

Jun–Oct

About the habitat

Thrives on disturbed, rich soil in gardens, fields, roadsides and other waste places. Prefers fresh, fertile ground and is less frequent on very sandy sites. Common in southern and central Finland; scarcer further north and occasional in Lapland.

Sources

Photo: carol, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common Groundsel-first fruits.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39862

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39862

Text: Pinkka: Laaja maatalouslajintuntemus 4 op - Koppisiemeniset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39862

Text: Pinkka: Ålandsexkursion, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39862

Text: Pinkka: Kasvien talvi - Talvivihreät luonnonkasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39862

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peltovillakko

See also