Plants of
South Australia
Senecio linearifolius var. linearifolius
Asteraceae
Fireweed Groundsel
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
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Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Senecio linearifolius

Senecio dryadeus

Etymology

Senecio from the Latin 'senex' meaning an old man; referring to the white pappus attached to the seed. Linearifolius from Latin meaning linear leaves; referring to the narrow long straight leaves.

Distribution and status

Currently only known from one location in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia, growing in a swamp. Also found in Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium region: Southern Lofty
NRM region: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Slender to shrubby aromatic perennial to 1.5 m high. Upper-stem leaves very narrow-elliptic, narrow-lanceolate or linear to narrow-linear, to 15 cm long, base with lobe largely discontinuous with lamina, entire or with a smaller lobe or segment near base and on proximal margin. Inflorescence in dense clusters with bright yellow daisy flowers. Flowering between November and March. Fruits are pale brown daisy head. Seeds are brown cylindrical seed to 2 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, covered in short hairs, usually with no pappus which fall off easily. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between January and April. Collect heads that are large and fluffy. Either pick off the whole heads or use your finger and pull off the seeds from the head. Mature seeds will come off easily. Place the heads in a tray for a week to dry. No cleaning is required if only pure seeds are collected. If heads are collected, then rub the heads gently with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Viable seeds will be fat and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 80%.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA17,300 (4.76 g)30+28-Jan-2009DJD1445
Southern Lofty
20-Jul-200980%+5°C, -18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.