Senecio madagascariensis

Madagascan Fireweed, Fireweed at Wamboin, NSW

Senecio madagascariensis at Wamboin, NSW - 23 Sep 2021
Senecio madagascariensis at Wamboin, NSW - 23 Sep 2021
Senecio madagascariensis at Wamboin, NSW - 23 Sep 2021
Senecio madagascariensis at Wamboin, NSW - 23 Sep 2021
Request use of media

Identification history

Senecio madagascariensis 23 Sep 2021 Tapirlord
Senecio madagascariensis 23 Sep 2021 natureguy

Identify this sighting


Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

Significant sighting

Tapirlord noted:

23 Sep 2021

Weed of National significance, good to see that this infestation has been nipped in the bud.

User's notes

Single plant spotted on roadside from car. Stopped to investigate and removed single plant (bagged whole plant including all flowers/seeds - will press for herbarium specimen and bin-bag the rest). A small search in the area revealed no further plants. Exact location - at the north end of the first guardrail on the NSW side of the border. Already notified appropriate people/authorities.

4 comments

natureguy wrote:
   23 Sep 2021
Neville Plumb commented that a few suspect plants he has found were identified as S. pinnatifolius var pinnatifolius. After thorough consideration and examination of the flowers and diagnostic features, I am tending more towards S. madagascariensis. From personal experience it seems like a more appropriate location for S. madagascariensis (a disturbed roadside). I have also never seen any in the area after living here for 11 years, further leading me to the conclusion of a recent arrival, and more likely a weed. A herbarium specimen was taken which should provide a definitive ID, I will get it to the herbarium as soon as possible.
   23 Sep 2021
Thanks Natureguy keep us informed it has theright number of petals and the right leaf shape to be S. madagascariensis.
natureguy wrote:
   28 Sep 2021
After doing some external research on Senecio species, I am pretty confident this is S. madagascariensis. The leaves are the wrong shape for S. pinnatifolius var. pinnatifolius, which has much thinner, lobed leaves rather than the wider, unlobed leaves of this plant, complete with fine serrated edges. The number of petals, bracts and bracteoles from my specimen also suit S. madagascariensis better than S. pinnatifolius var. pinnatifolius. Interestingly, from my research, other sites have also stated that S. pinnatifolius var. pinnatifolius is not found in the ACT, for example: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/plants_se_nsw/text/entities/senecio_pinnatifolius.htm and it is not listed on the ACT vascular plant census (only S. pinnatifolius var. alpinus, which is restricted to alpine areas). There are also no records on ALA from the ACT either, but there are several close by in NSW. There are several records on Naturemap, indicating that S. pinnatifolius var. pinnatifolius does occur in the ACT, but presumably it is not widespread.
   28 Sep 2021
Thanks Natureguy - in the last two weeks we have had four new locations of this major weed reported. In each case just one or two plants so good that early detection has occurred - but ominous that this has occurred at multiple highly dispersed sites.

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • 10cm to 30cm Plant height
  • True In flower

Species information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
1,900,409 sightings of 21,145 species in 9,351 locations from 12,991 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.