Cressleaf Groundsel (Senecio glabellus)
Description: A winter annual in the Aster/Composite family 1'-3' in height. Frequently seen infesting fields, filling them with yellow blooms in spring.
Life Cycle: Winter annual
Habitat: Wet woods, swamps, stream banks, pastures, roadsides, and fields.
Leaf: Alternate, deeply divided with wide, round-toothed lobes; up to 8 in. in length, upper leaves smalller.
Stem: Smooth and hollow, branched.
Flower: small, daisy-like yellow flowers in clusters that measure 0.5-1" in diameter.
Fruit: White seeds in feathery structures that are dispersed by wind.
Root: Many fibrous roots.
The problem is…..toxic to grazing livestock and spreads rapidly. This plant contains compounds called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA’s) which metabolize in the liver to form other toxic compounds. Consuming significant quantities of the weed is poisonous.
