Common Groundsel, Old-man-in-the-Spring (Senecio vulgaris), fam. Asteraceae.
Grows as a weed in gardens, yards, wastelands, and less often – on the riversides. The inflorescences are small, yellow, cylindrical (creating an impression of unopened buds), and quickly change with fluffy compound fruits alike small dandelion. All that, together with gnarly pinnate leaves, make up an image of ineradicable weed.
The plant is rich in alkaloids senecionine and senecinine. These substances are wuite toxic, so an extreme caution and strict dosage should be applied in preparation and application. Common Groundsel is used as antiinflammatory, analgetic, sedative, and anticonvulsant remedy. The leaves of this plant are applied to boils, to speed up their ripening, resorption and healing.
Overall, Senecio (groundsel, ragwort) is a huge genus combining hundreds of wild (for example, Dnieper Ragwort) and ornamental plants, the most famous among the latter being Cineraria.
