Species · genus Senecio · Asteraceae

Old-man-in-the-spring

Senecio vulgaris L.

Also known as: Groundsel · Common Groundsel · Common Fireweed

Growth habit

annual

Native range

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, Canary Is., Central European Russia, China South-Central, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Egypt, Finland, France, Føroyar, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, Iceland, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Manchuria, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Sinai, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Tuva, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Yemen

Reference · S. vulgaris

Cultivars of S. vulgaris

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under S. vulgaris yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Senecio vulgaris is a fast-growing annual weed of temperate disturbed ground across Eurasia and North Africa, so it lives quickly, sets seed, and dies within a season. It wants bright light and a moderately moist but well-drained mix; water when the top inch of soil is dry, easing off rather than keeping it soggy. As an annual it is short-lived by nature and will not persist past flowering.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 7 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

5–24 °C

Soil mix

Ordinary well-draining potting mix

Propagation

Self-seeds freely from seed

Fertilizing

Rarely needed; light feed if grown on

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Near year-round small yellow flowers that quickly set seed

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Senecio (ragwort / groundsel) — pyrrolizidine alkaloids; vomiting, lethargy. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Old-man-in-the-spring yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.