Senecio viscosus is a herbaceous annual plant of the genus Senecio. It is known as the sticky ragwort, sticky groundsel or stinking groundsel.
Like too many non-natives introduced through that port, it thrives in the cool, rocky and sandy but moist soils along Lake Superior's north shore, and with a wind disseminated seed, has spread rapidly up the shore to Cook County. Also like other introductions, it can be expected to make its way both inland along roads in the Arrowhead and south towards the metro over the near coming years.
Flower clusters are open and branching, appearing as single flowers at branch tips and upper leaf axils, often few opened at any given time. The flower heads are yellow, long stalked, ¼ to 1/3 inch across, the center disk bright yellow surrounded by 11 to 20 ray flowers (petals).
This plant might be poisonous
How to get rid of:
Common groundsel is best controlled by eliminating the plant before it flowers. Since seeds can still mature even if the plant itself is killed, it is imperative to remove the plant from the area if there is any evidence of flowering. Seeds of common groundsel are not long-lived, usually remaining viable for about one year.
Therefore, controlling this weed before flowering will have a great impact on the size of the next year's population.
Shallow tilling or hoeing of young plants effectively controls common groundsel. Start monitoring for seedlings in early fall and remove seedlings and plants as soon as possible. Monitoring should continue through early summer. Even if all the weeds in your garden are controlled, common groundsel may still infest the area from seeds that are blown in from nearby sites.
