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Senecio madagascariensis
Also called Fireweed, Madagascar Fireweed, Madagascar Groundsel
Madagascar ragwort is a small yellow daisy-like annual or short-lived herb, a weed of pastures, roadsides and disturbed ground in warm climates. It is grown only as a weed, not as an ornamental, and it is poisonous to livestock.
Senecio madagascariensis, also known as Madagascar ragwort, is a species of the genus Senecio and family Asteraceae that is native to Southern Africa. Other common names include Madagascar groundsel and fireweed. It has been included on the noxious weeds list for Hawaii
and the reject list for Australia.
Senecio madagascariensis contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is poisonous. Horses, cattle, and other livestock are at risk.
Symptoms of poisoning from fireweed include gradual weight loss, jaundice, fluid in the lungs, blindness, sudden death without any other indications, aimless wandering, muscular coordination, twitching of the head muscles, abdominal straining, rectal prolapse, and irritability.
It is found in pastures, open woodlands, grasslands, suburban bushland, roadsides, disturbed sites, wastelands, parks and coastal environments in subtropical and warmer temperate regions.
Creeping groundsel · Lavender Steps · Vertical Leaf · Canary Creeper · Threadleaf ragwort · Fireweed groundsel · Natal Ivy · Curio × peregrinus · Climbing Senecio · Canary Ragwort · Senecio tropaeolifolius · Groundsel
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Senecio madagascariensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
