Senecio congestus
(R. Br.) DC.
Marsh ragwort
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Description
A small herb. It grows 20-75 cm high. The plant is softly hairy. The leaves at the base are sword shaped with wavy edges. The upper leaves are smaller and clasp the stem. The flowers are yellow disks. The flower heads are 1-2 cm wide and several occur in a tight cluster. The fruit is a small dry achene.
Edible Uses
Young leaves are eaten raw as a salad, cooked as a potherb, or made into sauerkraut. Flowering stems are also edible.
Traditional Uses
Caution: The plant is considered poisonous. The young leaves are eaten as a salad, cooked as a potherb or made into a sauerkraut.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Known Hazards
Toxicity: Marsh ragwort is considered a vegetable and safe for human consumption; the young leaves and flowering stems of Senecio congestus can be eaten raw as salad, cooked as a potherb or made into a "sauerkraut", Noxiousness: Tephroseris palustris appears on a list of North Dakota plants to be monitored, however, it tends to be more of a plant that the presence of which indicates severe disturbance such as over-foraging and hyper-salinity, as is the case of the habitats of arctic geese where the forage plants are disappearing. Two locations are mentioned by United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) having problems from the ever-expanding populations of arctic geese and one from the Arctic Institute of North America of the University of Calgary or from an unpublished report from the Canadian Wildlife Service made available by the USFWS: Akimiski Island in the Canadian Northwest Territories where swards of Puccinellia phryganodes and Carex subspathacea have been replaced with dead willow stands and mudflats growing non-forage plant species, including Glaux maritima and Senecio congestus Cape Churchill Region and La Pérouse Bay, Manitoba where the expanding population of lesser snow geese has resulted in substantial changes to all intertidal habitats. In the vicinity of the coast extensive moss carpets are present and Senecio congestus and Salicornia borealis are widespread. Karrak Lake, Nunavut where growth in populations of Ross's geese (Chen rossii) and lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens) has led to a decline in vegetative cover and areas with a 10-year or longer history of goose nesting than in areas with less than 10 years of nesting had more instance of exposed mineral substrate, exposed peat, and Senecio congestus. Tephroseris palustris is reported to be extirpated in Michigan.
Distribution
It is a temperate plant. It grows in wet places.
Where It Grows
Arctic, Canada, North America,
Notes
There are over 1000 Senecio species.
Also Known As
Marsh fleabane
References (5)
- Cormack, R. G. H., 1967, Wild Flowers of Alberta. Commercial Printers Edmonton, Canada. p 391
- Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 526
- Porsild, A.E., 1953, Edible Plants of the Arctic, Arctic 6:15-34, page 27
- Prodr. 6:363. 1838
- USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)
