Flora of New Zealand Series

Senecio biserratus Belcher loc. cit. 43.

Type locality: "Nouve Hollande cote meride, Mus. de Paris, 1821". Type: Geneva.

Annual or biennial stout herb ± woody at base, up to ± 1m. tall, glab. or nearly so, except sts young parts; stems simple or sparingly branched below infl., erect. Lvs rather crowded, ascending, oblong to lanceolate-oblong; lamina sessile or very nearly so, ± amplexicaul, lower ± 10-12 × 4-5 cm., remainder gradually reduced, merging into bracts of infl.; margins irregularly doubly serrate, with ± alt. coarse and fine teeth. Infl. an ample corymbose panicle with broad subulate bracts. Capitula with calyculus of a few small bracteoles. Phyll. either long-acute or short-obtuse, ± alt., c. 7-8, 5-6 mm. long, keeled, minutely ciliolate. Florets 5-toothed; ♀ filiform, perfect narrow-funnelform. Achenes 2.5-3 mm. long, subfusiform, ribs flattened, grooves clad in short white hairs; pappus-hairs fine, white.

DIST.: S. Lowland forest margins and cleared places, hedgerows from c. lat. 42° southwards, local.