Senecio deltoideus Less.

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Habit

Scandent perennial herb or liana; stems 2–7 m long, green, ribbed, finely pubescent, often glabrescent.

Leaves

Leaves ovate-triangular or triangular, 4.3–12 cm long, 2–6.5 cm wide, base truncate to cordate, margins coarsely apiculate-dentate or bidentate, apex obtuse to subacute or acuminate, sometimes with 2 (or very rarely 4) much smaller lateral lobes, finely pubescent, mostly on veins, especially beneath, to glabrous or almost so, narrowly petiolate with the petiole auriculate at the base.

Capitulum

Capitula discoid, numerous in divaricately-branched terminal and axillary corymbs forming large, lax, pendent thyrsoid panicles; involucre cylindrical, 4–5.5 mm long, 2.5–3.5 mm in diameter; bracts of calyculus 3–5, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm long, floccose or ciliate or glabrous; phyllaries 8–13, green, 3.5–5 mm long, sparsely pubescent or glabrous.

Florets

Ray florets absent; disc florets pale creamy yellow to yellow, corolla 3–5 mm long, tube expanded above the middle, glabrous, lobes 1–1.2 mm long.

Fruits

Achenes 2.5–3 mm long, ribbed, hairy; pappus white, 3–5.5 mm long.

Habitat

Moist or dry forest or forest margins, secondary bushland in the forest zone; 700–2200 m

Distribution

K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 T2 T3