Senecio tamoides

Senecio tamoides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Senecioneae
Genus: Senecio
Species: S. tamoides
Binomial name
Senecio tamoides
DC. (1838)[1][2]

Senecio tamoides or also known as Canary creeper (a name it shares with Senecio deltoideus Less.[3]) is a climbing member of the genus Senecio of the family Asteraceae.[4]

Description

Scrambling[5] mostly evergreen[6] perennial,[5] creeping along the ground or climbing several meters into the trees.[4]

Stems and leaves: Stems are slender and hairless, up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall.[5]

Leaves are bright green, shaped like many ivy[6] with broad, oval and fleshy surfaces, 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long and 7 centimetres (2.8 in) wide, coarsely toothed edges, leaf stalks 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long.[5]

Flowers: Inflorescence is a many-headed,[5] bright yellow,[6] and the flowering spike grows to have a flat top. The flower heads are cylindrical, about 3 millimetres (0.12 in) in diameter; surrounded with a whorl of five to seven bracts, 6 millimetres (0.24 in) to 7 millimetres (0.28 in) long which are surrounded by two to four smaller bracts or bracteoles. Three to six ray florets; each ligule approximately 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long; ten to twelve disc florets, 12 millimetres (0.47 in) to 15 millimetres (0.59 in) long.[5]

When cultivated in the gardens of the National Museums of Kenya, it has orange florets.[7]

Fruits and reproduction: Achenes about 2 millimetres (0.079 in) long, and not hairy; pappus 6 millimetres (0.24 in) to 7 millimetres (0.28 in) long.[5] It grows easily from stem cuttings.[6]

Distribution

It is native to southern Africa where it occurs from the Eastern Cape to eastern Zimbabwe.[8] It grows along evergreen forest margins at altitudes of 300 metres (980 ft) to 1,900 metres (6,200 ft)[4] and in moist gullies.[5]

References

  1. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) (1985-11-07). "Taxon: Senecio tamoides DC." (HTML). Taxonomy for Plants. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  2. Landcare Research. "Senecio angulatus L.f. Suppl. 369 (1781)" (HTML). Flora of New Zealand: Taxa. Landcare Research Allan Herbarium and New Zealand Plant Names Database. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  3. Hyde, Mark; Bart Wursten. "Senecio deltoideus Less." (HTML). Flora of Zimbabwe. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hyde, Mark; Bart Wursten. "Senecio tamoides DC." (HTML). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 National Herbarium of New South Wales. "PlantNET Senecio tamoides DC." (HTML). New South Wales FloraOnline. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Pienaar, Kristo (2003). "Climbers". Gardening with Indigenous Plants: Easy to Grow Southern African Plants (HTML). Struik. pp. 96 pages. ISBN 1-86872-392-5. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  7. Aluka. "Entry for SENECIO tamoides DC. [family COMPOSITAE]" (HTML). African Plants. Ithaka Harbors, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  8. Viljoen, Cheris. "Senecio tamoides DC.". plantzafrica.com. Retrieved 11 July 2013.