Common Ragwort

(Senecio jacobaea L.) Fam:. Asteraceae

Danmark Eng-Brandbæger, Estland Voolme-ristirohi, Finland Jaakonvillakko, HollandJacobskruiskruid, Lettland Jekaba krustaine, Litauien Pievine žile, Norge Landøyda , Polen Starzec jakubek, Ryssland Крестовник Якова, Tyskland Jakobs-Kreuzkraut , Storbrittanien Stånds



Cotyledons 5 – 6 mm long and 3 – 4 mm broad, with leaf stalk, oval, entire, hairless. True leaves (basal) often lyrate – pinnatifid with a large egg-shaped blunt terminal lobe and 0 – 6 pairs of much smaller oblong lobes. Upper side dark green and glabrous, lower side light green, glabrous or with a woolly down. Stems 40 – 100 cm, erect, stiff, furrowed with a brownish red tinge, branched above the middle, very leafy. Flower heads (1 – 2 cm in diameter, bright yellow), numerous, in compact terminal corymbs. Reproduces only by seeds. Sites meadows, pastures, roadsides, ruderals and dry habitats. The plant is poisonous to cattle and horses owing to toxic alkaloides. Perennial species.