Poisonous
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Effect:
poisonous
Areas of application:
-
Plant parts used:
-
Collection time:
-
To find:
In semi-dry ruderal areas, on relatively nutrient-rich lawns, on fallow land and loamy fields.
Ingredients:
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Miscellaneous:
The Eastern Groundsel grows to a height of 7 to 50 cm and blooms from May to October. The stems grow upright, branchy at the top, cobwebby-woolly and later bald. The top and bottom of the leaves are cobwebby and woolly; this hairiness disappears as the plant gets older. The leaves from the base below are petiolate, wedge-elongated, undivided or lobed. The leaves in the middle are pinnately cleft, the individual sections are ovate, curly and coarsely toothed. The flower heads are 2 to 3 cm wide, have 6 to 12 outer bracts, have a glabrous tip and are black almost to the tip. The flower heads are inclined like a bell and usually have 13 ray florets. The ray flowers are light yellow to golden yellow. The fruits are stalk-shaped, 3 millimeters long, longitudinally grooved and hairy. In Central Europe the plant is considered a neophyte.
🛑 Eastern Groundsel is not only poisonous to humans, but also to animals. The pyrrolizidine alkaloids it contains can damage the liver and cause cancer. However, symptoms of poisoning often only appear after weeks and can even occur from cow's milk and bee products.
The Eastern Groundsel is a subspecies of Senecio leucanthemifolius. According to studies by Joachim W. Kadereit in 1984–1985, the common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) is said to have developed from it through chromosome doubling.