About Senecio crassiflorus (Poir.) DC.
Senecio crassiflorus (Poir.) DC. is not an upright herb. This silvery to white woolly plant grows 20 centimeters (7.9 in) to 50 centimeters (20 in) tall, and tends to lie prostrate across the dunes and sandy coastal areas it inhabits. Its leaves are spatula-shaped, ranging from forms with roundish, long, narrow, linear bases to forms with a broad rounded apex and tapering base. Most leaves are 4 centimeters (1.6 in) to 8 centimeters (3.1 in) long and 0.6 centimeters (0.24 in) to 2 centimeters (0.79 in) wide. Leaf edges are either smooth, or toothed toward the apex; both leaf surfaces are woolly. Its broadly bell-shaped, woolly flower heads grow singly or in small clusters, and measure 1 centimeter (0.39 in) to 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) in diameter. Its achenes measure 0.3 centimeters (0.12 in) to 0.5 centimeters (0.20 in), and its pappus is 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) long. Reports indicate that this species does not produce viable seeds, and spreads through asexual or vegetative reproduction. It is native to the Neotropic realm, specifically southern Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay in Southern South America, and currently occurs in this same native range, as well as in New South Wales, Australia, and Wellington, northern New Zealand, within Australasia.
