Common Groundsel

Common Groundsel

Senecio vulgaris L.

Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

▲ seedling

▲ young plant, with flowers

▲ ▼ mature, flowering plants

▲ flower detail

▲ flowering stem and small "oak" like leaves

▲ mature flower buds and fruit (parachute-like structures)

Common Groundsel:

Cool weather or summer annual, with upright, somewhat branched growth habit, reaching 6-18 inches tall
Has bright green, oak-like, fleshy leaves
Flowers are small, with yellow petals, but they don’t ever really open much
Fruit small seed attached to white “parachute-like" pappus to allow wind distribution
Found in landscape beds, cultivated crops, urban disturbed sites