Senecio is agenus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includesgroundsels and someragworts. Variouslycircumscribed taxonomically, the genusSenecio is one of the largest genera of flowering plants.Plants of the World Online currently accepts 1482 species.[1]
Senecio squalidus flowerheads have the yellow ray florets typical of many species
Theflower heads are often rayed (though thetype speciesSenecio vulgaris does not have ray florets), with the heads borne in branched clusters, and usually completely yellow, but green, purple, white and blue flowers are known as well.
In its current circumscription, the genus contains species that areannual orperennial herbs, shrubs, small trees, aquatics or climbers.[2]
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are found in allSenecio species. These alkaloids serve as a naturalbiocides to deter or even kill animals that would eat them. Livestock generally do not find them palatable.[3]Senecio species are used as food plants by thelarvae of someLepidoptera species that have developed tolerance for these alkaloids.
As no morphologicalsynapomorphies are known to determine which species belong to the genus or not, no exact species number is known. The genus has an almost worldwide distribution[4] and evolved in the mid- to lateMiocene.[7]
As of 2007, many genera and the whole tribe were in need of revision. Many species currently placed in the genus need to be transferred to other or new genera, and others have been retransferred toSenecio. In its new delimitation the genus is still notmonophyletic.[4]
The genusSenecio is distributed almost worldwide.[4] It is one of the few genera occurring in all five regions with aMediterranean climate. Furthermore, species are found in mountainous regions, including tropical alpine-like areas.
^Pelser, Pieter B.; Tepe, Eric J.; Kennedy, Aaron H.; Watson, Linda E. (2013-06-10). "The fate of Robinsonia (Asteraceae): sunk in Senecio, but still monophyletic?".Phytotaxa.5 (1):31–46.doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.5.1.2.ISSN1179-3163.
^Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992].Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 156.ISBN0-87842-280-3.OCLC25708726.
^abcdePelser, Pieter B.; Nordenstam, Bertil; Kadereit, Joachim W.; Watson, Linda E. (2007). "An ITS Phylogeny of Tribe Senecioneae (Asteraceae) and a New Delimitation of Senecio L".Taxon.56 (4): 1077.doi:10.2307/25065905.JSTOR25065905.
^Passalacqua, Nicodemo G.; Peruzzi, Lorenzo; Pellegrino, Giuseppe (August 2008). "A Biosystematic Study of the Jacobaea maritima Group (Asteraceae, Senecioneae) in the Central Mediterranean Area".Taxon.57 (3):893–906.doi:10.1002/tax.573018.JSTOR27756716.
Cyrille Chatelain; Laurent Gautier; Raoul Palese."Senecio L."African Flowering Plants Database. Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève. Retrieved2008-03-06.
Instituto Darwinion."Asteraceae".Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de la República Argentina. II (in Spanish).Universidad de Buenos Aires. p. 255. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on August 21, 2007. Retrieved2008-03-06.
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