Senecio angulatus

Leaves of S. angulatus.

Its form is a dense tangled shrub 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall[13] or a climber that can reach 6 metres (20 ft) high, if suitable support is available.[10] The leaves are 3.7 centimetres (1.5 in) to 22 centimetres (8.7 in) long and 1 centimetre (0.39 in) to 14 centimetres (5.5 in) wide and occur in 1-4 pairs. They are thick, glossy, fleshy and coarsely toothed, with one to three teeth each side[4] and bluntly lobed,[13] with upper leaves becoming smaller with fewer teeth or none at all.[4] They have a frosted look from a powdery coating on the lower side.[5]

Leaf stalks are 1 centimetre (0.39 in) to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long.[14] The leaves have stalks or stems which embrace the larger leaf surface which is not lobed, oval to triangularly shaped or very blunt to pointed at the tips and blunt to flat at the base. The leaves have a frosted look from a powdery coating on the lower side.[5]

The stems are succulent, pale green, and are often variegated with pale yellow green and purple. They are slightly angular[5] (not upright) and usually sparingly branched.[4] Neither stems nor leaves are hairy.[4][5][14]

Flowers of S. angulatus.

Senecio angulatus produces numerous flowers[5] in open clusters at the end of its branches or stems.[4] The strongly scented flowers are on an elongated stem that continue to open in succession from the base up as the stem continues to grow. The mass of clusters end more flat at the top than pyramid-like,[5] and are 4 centimetres (1.6 in) to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) in diameter.[14] Often the cluster droops with the flower heads at the end of the cluster turning upwards.[5]

Flower stalks are mostly hairless or with some short hairs, 6.5 millimetres (0.26 in) to 10.5 millimetres (0.41 in) long. Flower heads are attached to flower stalk by fine pointed 8-11 bracts 5 millimetres (0.20 in) to 6 millimetres (0.24 in)[4] which are surrounded by 4-7 pale green and sometimes purple tinged at the base supplementary bracts, 1.5 millimetres to 2.5 millimetres which make a cup shape around the base of the involucre.[5] Each stalk is capable of producing 10-15 disc florets.[14]

Flower-heads are radiate and urn-shaped.[14] Ray florets are nearly always absent.[5] When they occur, there is a yellow ligule. The corolla has a yellow disc[4] surrounded by 4–6 dull golden yellow disc florets 5.5 millimetres (0.22 in) to 9.5 millimetres (0.37 in) long with hairless tubes, a slight expansion below the middle and lobes 1.3 millimetres to 2 millimetres wide.[5] S. angulatus flower heads have rays[4] (that look like petals) that make it more daisy-like[13] unlike D. odorata which doesn't.[14]

It flowers from April to May in Southern Africa[10] and May to July in Australia and New Zealand.[14]

Creeping groundsel is easily dispersed by wind-blown seed, stem fragments, and dumped garden waste.[13] Achenes are 3 millimetres to 4 millimetres long,[4][5] ribbed or grooved with short hairs in the grooves[4][5] and a tapering cylindrical shape.[4][14] The parachute-like hairs, the pappus, are 5 millimetres to 7 millimetres long.[4][14]

Creeping groundsel prefers soils of black calcareous and grey sand, sandy clay and limestone. It finds homes with these soils in coastal areas on cliff faces, mudflats, wet depressions in dunes, near swamps,[10] in landfills, scrubland and near settlements,[14] especially near the sea.[4]