Plants of
South Australia
Senecio macrocarpus
Asteraceae
Large-fruit Groundsel
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Prior names

Erechtites hispidula, partly

Etymology

Senecio from the Latin 'senex' meaning an old man; referring to the white pappus attached to the seed. Macrocarpus from the Latin 'macros' meaning large and 'carpos' meaning fruit, referring to its large fruit relative to the plant.

Distribution and status

Found scattered from the southern Flinders Ranges, Yorke Peninsula, Mt. Lofty Ranges to the upper south-east in South Australia, in a variety of habitats including grasslands, sedgelands, shrublands and woodlands, often in depressions that are waterlogged in winter, on sandy loam to heavy clay soils. Also found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Very rare in the other states. Vulnerable under the EPBC Act.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect or sprawling herb or small shrub to 70 cm high arising from a perennial rootstock. Leaves linear to 10 cm long and  5mm wide, grey-green, covered with fine hairs, with margins entire or finely dentate. Inflorescence a cyme with 2-10 yellow, rayless florets. Florets cylindric but long-tapered toward apex to 6 mm long and surrounded by linear, pointed bracts. Flowering between September and November. Fruits are large white fluffy daisy-head. Seeds are pale brown cylindrical to 5 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, covered in short hairs with long pappus. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between September to March. 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. Seed viability is high.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
13,000 (6.4 g)
13,000 (6.4 g)
100+12-Oct-2005DJD141
South Eastern
14-Sep-200690%+5°C, -18°C
BGA21,700 (6.24 g)5018-Sep-2007RJB74668
South Eastern
19-Sep-2008100%+5°C, -18°C
BGA8,350 (2.58 g)50+15-Sep-2011DJD2242
South Eastern
1-Nov-201244%-18°C
BGA5,240 (25.62 g)1-Oct-2013KHB306
Flinders Ranges
24-Mar-201595%+5°C, -18°C
BGA12,145 (5.83 g)1-Oct-2014KHB306
Flinders Ranges
1-Jan-201695%-18°C
BGA15,000 (8.86 g)91-Oct-2018KHB306
Flinders Ranges
24-Apr-201980%-18°C, -80°C
BGA68,600 (34.13 g)50+25-Sep-2018JRG689
South Eastern
24-Apr-201985%-18°C, -80°C
BGA5,400 (3.380 g)50+30-Oct-2022Messent CP
South Eastern
20-Jun-202385%-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.
Germination table:
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