Groundsel
Botanical Name: Senecio vulgaris
Family: Asteraceae (Compositae)
Other Names: Grounsel
Description: Low annual. Leaves: pinnately lobed.
Flowers: yellow, 6mm long, 3mm broad, loose clusters, rayless Bracts: black
tipped can flower all year
Habitat: Roadsides, waste ground
Native to: Worldwide
Parts Used: Herb fresh or dried
Actions: Diaphoretic, diuretic
Constituents: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids – seneciphyllene,
senecionine, reddelline, retrorsine, senecin
Volatile oil –beta caryophyllene, myrcene, alpha copaene, beta
farnesine, germacrene
Flavonoids –glucuronides of quercetin, isorhamnetin
Other Notes: It is related to ragwort