Erechtites glomerata

Erechtites glomerata (also recognised as Senecio glomeratus) is an annual or short-lived perennial herb in the daisy family (Asteraceae) reaching up to 2 meters tall. Stems are erect, ridged, and softly hairy to almost glabrous, branching mainly in the inflorescence. The leaves are alternate, lanceolate to linear in outline and pinnately lobed with narrow, irregularly toothed lobes; the foliage is sparsely pubescent and clasps the stem at its base. Inflorescences are loose terminal panicles bearing many small cylindrical flower heads enclosed by a single row of green involucral bracts; an individual plant may produce up to 120 heads, each containing fifty or more yellowish to purplish-tipped disc florets and no ray florets. The achenes are slender and ribbed, crowned with a soft white pappus that allows wind dispersal. The species is native to Australia and New Zealand, occurring in disturbed ground, forest margins, and damp open habitats, and has naturalised on the Pacific Coast of the United States in Washington, Oregon, and California.