Weed ID

TANSY RAGWORT

Asteraceae or Sunflower Family
Senecio jacobaea

GROWTH HABIT: Biennial or short-lived perennial, grows 1 to 3 feet tall but can reach up to 6 feet tall in shaded areas.

LEAVES: Basal leaves are 2 to 10 inches long, irregularly lobed into leaflets with the leaflets lobed again. The terminal leaf lobe is the largest and longest.

STEMS: The leaves are alternately arranged on the stem, evenly distributed, and decrease in size up the stem. Stems and leaf stalks have purplish and cobwebby hairs, may be several or solitary, and may branch near the terminal inflorescence.

FLOWERS: Numerous daisy-like flower heads have yellow petals and a yellow center, are less than an inch in diameter and are clustered on the terminal stem. Flowers from July to October.

ROOTS: Plants produce taproots and may also produce smaller lateral shoots.

SEEDS: Numerous light-colored seeds have a small pappus to assist with short range wind dispersal. Large plants will multiple stems can produce more than 150,000 seeds, seeds are viablie up to 16 years.

REPRODUCES: By seed.

HABITAT: Pastures, roadsides, areas of disturbance and upper beaches in the Pacific Northwest.

"This weed is toxic to cattle and horses"