Senecio barbertonicus


The Barberton groundsel
or succulent bush senecio is an evergreen succulent shrub of the family Asteraceae and genus Senecio, native to Southern Africa, named after one of its native localities Barberton and is now also being cultivated elsewhere for its drought resistance, clusters of sweetly scented, golden-yellow, tufted flower heads in winter and attractiveness to butterflies, the painted lady butterfly in particular.

Description

A succulent bush growing over tall and wide with a fleshy trunk, light green, cylindrical, finger-like leaves to in length
and to in diameter, densely packed around the stem and curved at the base to lie parallel to the stem and pointing upwards.
The fragrant yellow flowers, wide and long, bloom July through September, are terminal and produce seeds with a dense tuft of bristles.
Senecio barbertonicus is hardy to at least.

Distribution

Senecio barbertonicus grows predominantly in rocky grassland and bushveld in Southern Africa in areas ranging from Swaziland and Mozambique, to Eastern parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa at altitudes between and.
It is locally common in protected areas in eastern, central, and southwestern Swaziland
in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North-West.