Golden ragwort contains eight proven types of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and ten more that have not yet been proven. These alkaloids cause a condition called pyrrolizidine alkalosis, which can damage the liver permanently and is fatal if enough golden ragwort is consumed.

woodland garden

IT IS VERY INVASIVE, OUR LOCAL COUNCIL LAST SUMMER HAD SQUADS OF EMPLOYEES UPROOTING THIS PLANT, WHICH GROWS WILD ON THE SEAFRONT AND SAND DUNE AREA . I BELIEVE THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT THE PLANT IS DEADLY POISONOUS TO HORSES WHEN IT IS IN THE WILT STAGE.

Golden groundsel’s stout, thick, basal offshoots creep horizontally and send up erect flowering stems 1-3 ft. in height. Flowers are deep golden-yellow, daisy-like and showy. Heart-shaped basal leaves are dark-green above and purple beneath.

Grow the Senecio Aureus from seed or root bundles and transplant them during the spring season. Locate Senecio Aureus in partial shade to full sun with rich, moist soil. This wildflower will continue to please you with its enduring growing ability and beautiful blooms.

Groundsel, also called ragwort, any of about 1,200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs, shrubs, trees, and climbers constituting the genus Senecio of the family Asteraceae, distributed throughout the world.

In most situations, common groundsel is easily controlled by hand removal or cutting the plant off at its taproot by hoeing. Monitoring the area on a regular basis and removing the weed throughout the growing season will greatly reduce the impact of the weed the next year.

Groundsel is LIKELY UNSAFE for anyone to take by mouth. There’s a lot of concern about using groundsel as medicine, because it contains chemicals called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). These chemicals may block blood flow in the veins, causing liver damage. PAs might also cause cancer and birth defects.

Common groundsel is a problem weed in cultivated crops, gardens and nurseries. It is poisonous to cattle and horses and toxic to humans. It contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can cause irreversible liver damage and possibly death.

noun. any composite plant of the genus Senecio, especially S. vulgaris, a common weed having clusters of small yellow disk flowers without rays. QUIZ.

How to spot it. The leaves are bright shiny green, long and raggedly lobed. The small yellow flower heads are in cluster at the ends of the stems appearing to emerge from little tubes.

According to Linnaeus, goats and swine eat this common plant freely, cows being not partial to it and horses and sheep declining to touch it, but not only are caged birds fond of it, but its leaves and seeds afford food for many of our wild species.

The whole flowering plant is used to make medicine. Despite serious safety concerns, people take groundsel for worms and colic. They take the pressed juice for irregular or painful menstrual periods (dysmenorrhea) and epilepsy. The pressed juice is sometimes applied directly to gums to stop bleeding.

Our gardens are a vital resource for wildlife, providing corridors of green space between open countryside, allowing species to move about.

We have all heard about or used groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) with canaries, parrot-type birds and finches. It is well documented that groundsel has a lethal dose of toxins, which affect other animals, such as dogs, cats and horses, owing to the pyrrolizidine alkaloids it contains.

These which are documented as safe to feed rabbits: agrimony, borage, bramble, buckwheat, burnet, caraway, chamomile, chickweed, coltsfoot, comfrey, corn marigold, cow parsley, dandelion, deadnettle, dock, echinacea, garlic, goats rue, golden rod, goosegrass, groundsel, knot-grass, knapweed, mallow, mayweeds, meadow …

Can Rabbits Eat Daisies? Yes. Daisies are regularly listed as safe flowers for bunnies to eat.