Coastal ragwort

Senecio leucanthemifolius, commonly called coastal ragwort, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb of the Asteraceae family native to coastal regions around the Mediterranean Basin and Macaronesia. It typically grows 10 to 40 cm tall, with somewhat fleshy, deeply pinnatifid to lyrate leaves clustered near the base and reduced upward on the stem. The plant bears terminal corymbs of yellow capitula, each with a single row of involucral bracts and 12 to 15 spreading yellow ray florets surrounding a disc of tubular florets, characteristic of the genus Senecio. Achenes are cylindrical and ribbed, topped with a white pappus of fine bristles facilitating wind dispersal. It colonises sandy soils, coastal dunes, rocky shores, salt marshes and disturbed ground. Like many Senecio species, the plant contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is regarded as toxic to livestock and humans.