Senecio vulgaris
Ecology
An annual of open and disturbed ground, occurring in semi-natural habitats on sand dunes and coastal cliffs, and as a weed in waste places, gardens, arable fields and other open habitats. 0-550 m (Moor House, Westmorland).
Status
Trends
There has been no significant change in the distribution of S. vulgaris since the 1962 Atlas, although there appears to have been a decline in the Scottish Highlands, possibly due to abandoning of marginal cultivations. The two rayed variants (var. denticulatus and var. hibernicus) were mapped by Perring & Sell (1968).
World Distribution
European Southern-temperate element, but widely naturalised so that distribution is now Circumpolar Southern-temperate.
Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 7
Moisture (Ellenberg): 5
Reaction (Ellenberg): 7
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 7
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 3.6
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 14.6
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1075
Height (cm): 37
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 2630
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 942
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 14
Atlas Change Index: -1.08
Weighted Changed Factor: -9
Weighted Change Factor Confidence (90%)
JNCC Designations
PLANTATT - Attributes of British and Irish plants. (.zip 1455KB) This dataset was compiled and published in 2004, and last updated in November 2008. Download includes an Excel spreadsheet of the attributes, and a PDF explaining the background and nomenclature. Note that the PDF version is the booklet as published, whereas the Excel spreadsheet incorporates subsequent corrections. A hardcopy can be purchased from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Atlas text references
Atlas (272c)
Atlas Supp (71b)
.
1988. Comparative Plant Ecology.
.
1986. Atlas of north European vascular plants north of the Tropic of Cancer. 3 vols.
.
1992. Vergleichende Chorologie der zentraleuropäischen Flora. Volume 3. 2 vols.