Groundsel.

Groundsel. the common name of those species of Senecio (q.v.) which have small heads of flowers either destitute of ray or with the ray rolled back. The Common Groundsel (S. vulgaris), which is usually destitute of ray, is one of the most plentiful of weeds in waste and cultivated grounds in Britain and most parts of Europe, and now also diffused, through European commerce and colonisation, throughout the world. It is a coarse-looking annual, of rapid growth, about a foot high, branched, with pinnatifid leaves, and small yellow heads of flowers; flowering at all seasons, even in winter, when the weather is mild; its seeds being also widely diffused by means of their hairy pappus. It has a rather disagreeable smell; but birds are very fond of the young buds and leaves, and cage-birds are fed with them. It is also eaten by cattle if better fodder be scarce. It has a saltish taste, whence its name; and is of old repute in domestic medicine for poulticing. The other British species are weeds of very similar appearance, but are stronger, having a more disagreeable odour, and are viscid to the touch. Groundsel has been introduced into the United States, and is now found as a weed in gardens and waste places from New England to Pennsylvania.—Like other annual weeds, the groundsels ought to be hoed down or pulled as they appear, when the ground is in crop.