Senecio angulatus

Senecio angulatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Senecio
Species:
S. angulatus
Binomial name
Senecio angulatus
L.f. (1781)
Native range of S. angulatus
Synonyms
  • Senecio macropodus DC.
  • Cineraria laevis A.Spreng.

Sources: IPNI,[1] GRIN,[2] NZPND,[3] The Plant List[4]

Senecio angulatus, also known as creeping groundsel[5] and Cape ivy,[6][7] is a succulent flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is native to South Africa. Cape ivy is a scrambling[8] herb that can become an aggressive weed once established, making it an invasive species.[3][9] It is grown as an ornamental plant for its satiny foliage and sweet-scented flowers.[10][3][8]

It is a problem weed in New Zealand,[11] and is naturalised in parts of North Africa[12] and Southern Europe.[13] In Australia, Senecio tamoides (Canary creeper) may usually be misapplied and is considered to be Senecio angulatus. Cape ivy is very similar to Delairea odorata, Senecio tamoides and Senecio macroglossus.[14] Other common names include climbing groundsel,[5] angled senecio,[15] Algerian senecio,[16] Jordanian senecio[17] and scrambling groundsel.[18]

Description

Leaves and stems

Leaves

Its form is a dense tangled shrub 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall[19] or a climber that can reach 6 metres (20 ft) high, if suitable support is available. The stems are succulent, and are often variegated with pale yellow green and purple, which become woody as they age.[20] They are slightly angular (not upright) and usually sparingly branched.[3] Neither stems nor leaves are hairy.[3][8]

The alternate leaves are rhombic to ovate (diamond-shaped or egg-shaped),[21] 3 to 5 centimetres (1.2 to 2.0 in) long and 1 to 5 centimetres (0.39 to 1.97 in) wide and occur in 1-4 pairs. They are thick, glossy, fleshy and coarsely toothed, with one to three teeth each side[3] and bluntly lobed,[19] with upper leaves becoming smaller with fewer teeth or none at all.[3] They have a frosted look from a powdery coating on the lower side. Leaf stalks are 1 to 4 centimetres (0.39 to 1.57 in) long.[8]

Inflorescence

Inflorescence

Senecio angulatus produces numerous flowers in open clusters at the end of its branches or stems.[3] The honey-scented flowers are on an elongated stem and open in succession from the base up as the stem continues to grow. The flower clusters are more flat at the top than pyramid-like, and are 4 to 8 centimetres (1.6 to 3.1 in) in diameter.[8] Often the cluster droops with the flower heads at the end of the cluster turning upwards. Flower stalks are mostly hairless or with some short hairs, 6.5 to 10.5 millimetres (0.26 to 0.41 in) long.

Attached to flower stalks are 8-11 fine pointed bracts 5 to 6 millimetres (0.20 to 0.24 in)[3] which are surrounded by 4-7 pale green and sometimes purple tinged supplementary bracts at the base, 1.5 to 2.5 millimetres (0.059 to 0.098 in) which make a cup shape around the base of the involucre. Individual flower-heads are radiate and urn-shaped.[8] The corolla has a disc[3] comprising 10-15 dull golden yellow disc florets.[8] Each disc floret is a hairless tube with a slight expansion below the middle and lobes 1.3 to 2 millimetres (0.051 to 0.079 in) wide. 4-6 ray florets surround the disc florets and have yellow[3] ligules (that look like petals) 5.5 to 9.5 millimetres (0.22 to 0.37 in) long that make the flowers look daisy-like.[19]

An autumn-winter bloomer, the plant flowers from April to May in Southern Africa and May to July in Australia.[8] In New Zealand, it blooms from March to August.[22] In the northern hemisphere, it flowers from November to the end of January.[23][24] Under a full sun it can bloom in late spring as well, albeit sparingly.[25]

Achenes are 3 to 4 millimetres (0.12 to 0.16 in) long,[3] ribbed or grooved with short hairs in the grooves[3] and a tapering cylindrical shape.[3][8] The parachute-like hairs, the pappus, are 5 to 7 millimetres (0.20 to 0.28 in) long.[3][8]

Cultivation

Due to its drought-tolerance and succulent nature,[26][27] Cape ivy thrives in areas with a Mediterranean climate,[28] where it has been cultivated in parts of North Africa, Southern Europe[29] and the Levant.

History

Grown towards a picket fence in Tel Aviv.

Cape ivy was introduced in Malta in the 15th century as an ornamental plant.[30] In Queensland, the plant may have increased in popularity following the Boer War, as there were anecdotal accounts that it was introduced from South Africa by the soldiers who returned to Australia after 1902. Moreover, it was displayed in garden pillars in Brisbane newspapers between 1906 and 1910, praising the plant for the beauty of both its foliage and its yellow clusters of blooms. Though these reports may have falsely applied the S. angulatus name to Senecio mikanioides, which was a weed at that time on the east coast.[31]

It was most likely introduced to the United States after 1930, as it is not listed in the first edition of Hortus, although it is rarely cultivated in that country.[32] The plant was collected as a weed in Melbourne's southern suburb of Mornington in 1936, and was displayed in newspaper column submissions in areas between Bendigo and Swan Hill in the 1940s and 1950s. In Melbourne metropolitan area, it became prevalent on coastal banks and on decomposed rock gullies of suburban creeks.[31] It was introduced in New Zealand in 1940 as an ornamental.[9]

Propagation

Cape ivy grows in USDA hardiness zones 9a through 11b, tolerating temperatures between 10 °C (50 °F) and 38 °C (100 °F),[22] and is medium to fast-growing. Drought and heat tolerant, it would flourish better with some water in the summer and would bloom more often in full sun. It can grow indoors as a houseplant, provided it gets some sunlight. Pruning is necessary as the plant can become limp when it gets taller.[33] Propagation can be done by cuttings (as the plant easily roots from the branch tips). Seeds prefer consistent moisture and warm temperatures to germinate. Annual fertilisation is necessary, though not mandatory. Pests include aphids.[34][35]

Distribution

Cultivated at an apartment complex in Jerusalem
Naturalisation at a scrubland in Jordan

Cape ivy is native to the Cape Province in South Africa, hence its name. It has been naturalized in areas with the Mediterranean climate, such as those in, or proximate to, the Mediterranean Basin: South Italy (Sardegna, Sicilia), France (Corsica), Spain (including Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Madeira), Croatia, Portugal,[13][32] Albania, Tunisia and Algeria.[36][37]

Outside of the Mediterranean, it is found in some coastal areas in southeastern Australia (particularly the Mornington Peninsula in southern Victoria),[38] where it is spreading and listed as a significant environmental weed in Victoria.[8] It is an emerging alien species in South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales (South Coast) and southern Western Australia.[39][40] It is reported to be invasive in New Zealand, where it has been naturalized in the Marlborough District and Chatham Island.[9] In California, Albania and Chile, it is reported to be escaping.[32]

The plant prefers soils of black calcareous and grey sand, sandy clay and limestone, where it will be found in coastal areas on cliff faces, mudflats, wet depressions in dunes, near swamps, in landfills, scrubland and near settlements,[8] especially near the sea.[3]

Invasiveness

Cape ivy is easily dispersed by wind-blown seed, stem fragments, dumped garden waste and by the expansion of the plant through runners.[19] It can become aggressive when it is established, where it may smother the existing native vegetation both in the ground layer and canopy, thus altering the light climate in the invaded community and sometimes suppress the regeneration of native plants.[19] As such, the plant is targeted by the Oregon Department of Agriculture for early detection and fast response if it were to escape from cultivation.[32]

On the Costa Brava in Spain, it was one of the five most recorded species, where it was found in large assemblage, usually close to human residence, invading and colonizing the clifftops, roadsides and the proximate scrubland, including the undergrowth, replacing native flora species such as Pistacia lentiscus. It was introduced to Catalonia in the 1970s as a groundcover plant in home gardens, before escaping. Although it is not recorded as an invasive species in the Spanish Catalogue of Invasive Species, it is one of the most common alien species present on the Catalan coast as it clearly possesses invasive behaviour.[41]

Chemistry

Seeds are reported to be unviable and that the predominate mode of dispersal is vegetative reproduction – In a 2001 Wellington study, artificially pollinated stigmata varnished with aniline blue under a UV microscope displayed that a low number of pollen grains corresponded to the stigmatic surface.[22] Callose occurred in the few pollen tubes that did adhere to the surface, hinting the presence of a sporophytic self-incompatibility mechanism, which aids the theory that S. angulatus and Delairea odorata consist of a single genotype (or are set for a single S allele), thus seed is incapable of being produced.[22][42]

Medicinal

Phytochemical profiling showed antioxidant and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities in extracts from Algerian Senecio angulatus. The hydro-methanolic and the acetate extracts have exhibited antioxidant potential of acetate for FRAP and phenanthroline methods. Furthermore, a high amount of cynarin and trans-ferulic acid was found in the extract whereas butanolic infusion had recorded the highest amount of chlorogenic acid. Though phenolic compounds tend to have hydroxyl in their composition, contributing to the antioxidant activity.[16]

Other names

  • French: Séneçon anguleux (senecio angular)
  • Italian: senecio rampicante (creeping senecio)
  • Spanish: la hiedra del Cabo, senecio hiedra (cape ivy, senecio ivy)
  • Xhosa: inDindilili[6]
  • Arabic: الشيخة القريض, الشيخة الزحف القريض, دعسة القطة, سلك التلفون ,شيخة مضلعة (telephone cord, cat's footprint, climbing groundsel, polygonal sheikh/senecio)
  • Hebrew: סביון מזוות (climbing groundsel)

References

  1. ^ "Senecio angulatus". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. 2008-05-29.
  2. ^ "Senecio angulatus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Landcare Research. "Senecio angulatus L.f. Suppl. 369 (1781)". Flora of New Zealand: Taxa. Landcare Research Allan Herbarium and New Zealand Plant Names Database. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  4. ^ The Plant List. "Cineraria laevis A.Spreng". TICA. The Plant List. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  5. ^ a b Muyt, Adam (2001). Bush invaders of south-east Australia: a guide to the identification and control of environmental weeds in south-east Australia. R.G. and F.J. Richardson. pp. 304 pages. ISBN 0-9587439-7-5. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  6. ^ a b Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). "Page 2456". CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-2673-7. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  7. ^ Cape ivy (mile a minute, climbing groundsel) (Senecio angulatus) State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) 1996-2021
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l National Herbarium of New South Wales. "Senecio angulatus L." New South Wales FloraOnline. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  9. ^ a b c "Senecio angulatus". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  10. ^ Creeping groundsel by Resto con life. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Cape ivy (Senecio angulatus)". Controlling problem weeds in riparian zones. Greater Wellington Regional Council. 2004. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  12. ^ "Senecio angulatus L.f. record n° 97995". African Flowering Plant Database. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  13. ^ a b Taxon: Senecio angulatus L. f. Australian Pastures Genebank Distribution Policy. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  14. ^ Weeds of Australia (Biosecurity Queensland Edition). "Senecio angulatus L. f." Queensland Government. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  15. ^ Plants of South Eastern New South Wales Lucid Central. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  16. ^ a b LC-ESI/MS-phytochemical profiling with antioxidant and antiacetylcholinesterase activities of Algerian Senecio angulatus L.f. extracts Ahlem Bousetla, Hatice Banu Keskinkaya, Chawki Bensouici, Mostefa Lefahal, Mehmet Nuri Atalar, Salah Akkal. National Library of Medicine. 21 July 2021.
  17. ^ Murrell, Z.E (2010). Vascular Plant Taxonomy. Kendall Hunt Publishing Compant.
  18. ^ Climbing groundsel Senecio angulatus Brisbane City Council, Weed Identification Tool. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  19. ^ a b c d e Tom Forney, Steve Hurst (2007). "Kudzu Pueraria lobata" (PDF). Government of Oregon. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  20. ^ Cape ivy Asteraceae - Senecio angulatus Northland Regional Council. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  21. ^ Frankston City Council Invasive Species Guide Frankston City Council. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  22. ^ a b c d Senecio angulatus by Julissa Rojas-Sandoval from Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  23. ^ Senecio angulatus – Senecio rampicante by Laura Bennet from CASA E GIARDINO
  24. ^ Senecio angulatus, il rampicante fiorito a novembre by Giovanna Rio from Cose di Casa
  25. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  26. ^ Senecio angulatus (Cape ivy, Climbing groundsel, Creeping groundsel) AUB Landscape Plant Database. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  27. ^ Cape ivy Northland Regional Council. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  28. ^ SENECIO ANGULATUS OR CREEPING GROUNDSEL | CARE AND GROWING Consulta Plantas - Gardening and plant care since 2001. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  29. ^ Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem. "Details for: Senecio angulatus". Euro+Med PlantBase. Freie Universität Berlin. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  30. ^ Senecio angulatus (Creeping Groundsel) MaltaWildPlants.com by Stephen Mifsud
  31. ^ a b Climbing Groundsel (Senecio angulatus) by Weeds of Melbourne, July 10, 2019
  32. ^ a b c d Weed Risk Assessment for Senecio angulatus L. f. (Asteraceae) – Cape-ivy United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  33. ^ Climbing Groundsel (Senecio angulatus) by Weeds of Melbourne, July 10, 2019
  34. ^ Senecio angulatus (Climbing Groundsel) by World of Succulents, August 30, 2013
  35. ^ Creeping or climbing groundsel (Senecio angulatus) by Eurobodalla Shire Council
  36. ^ Apparition de Senecio angulatus (Asteraceae) en Algérie by M. D. Miara, L. Boutabia, S. Telaïlia & E. Vela, 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020
  37. ^ Senecio angulatus L.f. by Kew. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  38. ^ EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF CREEPING GROUNDSEL (SENECIO ANGULATUS) Peter M. Newton. Eleventh Australian Weeds Conference Proceedings. Dependable Services Pty. Ltd. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  39. ^ Senecio angulatus L. f. Environmental Weeds of Australia. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  40. ^ Senecio angulatus L.f. Western Australian Herbarium (1998–). Florabase—the Western Australian Flora. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  41. ^ THE FEATURED PLANT – Senecio angulatus LIFE medCLIFFS. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  42. ^ Options for restoration of Cape ivy (Senecio angulatus) – dominated sites using native coastal species, Glinks Gully, Northland David Bergin, Envirolink, 2006