Ragwort

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17 December 2006

 

Ragwort in flower on the Coastal Link Cyclepath. Same plant as shown immediately below.	Ragwort in flower on the Coastal Link Cyclepath. Same plant as shown immediately below.	A dimunitive 12 cm Ragwort on the Old Erringham pasture.

 

Could the above be the Hoary Ragwort, Senecio erucifolius ?

13 December 2006

Ragwort was in flower on the Coastal Link Cyclepath south of the Toll Bridge, Old Shoreham. I have not worked out the species. It has always assumed to be the Common Ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, and the 30 cm specimen from the old railway line had brown bracts and appears to be the common species. The other green leaved species is the alien hybrid known as the Oxford Ragwort, Senecio squalidus.
Ragwort Facts

Four types of Ragwort will be found in the UK, all of them poisonous to livestock :-

The Common Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea, the most widespread type.
The Marsh Ragwort - Senecio aquaticus, in wet meadows, ditches, marshland and moorland.
The Oxford Ragwort - Senecio squalidus.
The Hoary Ragwort - Senecio erucifolius.