SENECIO TAMOIDES
Common Names:- canary creeper, Cape ivy, parlor ivy.
Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Senecio (L) Old-man, a name used by the Roman naturalist and
philosopher Pliny, reference to the grey hairiness as soon as fruiting starts.
Tamoides (L) Resembing Tamus.
General description:- Scrambling glabrous perennial.
Stems:-
a) to 2 m long.
b) slender.
Leaves:-
1) Lamina:
a) ± 4-7 cm long and wide.
b) margins ± palmately lobed or coarsely toothed.
c) glabrous, ± fleshy.
d) venation palmate.
2) Petiole:
a) 20-50 mm long.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence:
a) many-headed. corymbose.
b) heads cylindrical, c. 3 mm diam.
2 )Involucral bracts:
a) 5-7, 6-7 mm long.
3) Bracteoles:
a) 2-4.
4) Ray florets.
a) 3-6.
b) ligules c. 10 mm long.
5) Disc florets 10-12, 12-15 mm long.
Fruit:-
1) Achenes:
a) c. 2 mm long.
b) glabrous.
2) Pappus 6-7 mm long.
Habitat:- Moist gullies where it scrambles up on shrubs and climbs into trees,
twining from the shady forest floor to reach the sunlit tree-tops where it can then
flower
Distribution:- The native range of this species is S. Tropical & S. Africa. Invasive
in many parts of the Southern hemisphere including Australia.
Previously unrecorded from the Mediterranean region. Discovered by Christopher
Cheiladakis. Although there is now no doubt as to the exisence of this plant in the
Mediterranean, it's mode of arrival should be carefully considered.
Flowering time:- March to July
Photos by:- Christopher Cheiladakis