Climbing senecio, Nilgiri ragwort.
Senecio genus (ragworts) belongs to the Asteraceae family and consists of more than 1200 species. . They come in various forms as herbs, climbers, shrubs and sometimes as succulent plants. Flowers are seen mostly in yellow color and produced in clusters. These plants produce Pyrrolizidine alkaloids chemicals. This chemical is poisonous to herbivores. Climbing senecio is a large climbing plant often seen growing around Shola edge forests. The simple leaves are ovate lanceolate in shape with teethed margin. The plant has a silvery hue, the lower surface of the leaf in silvery in color. Yellow flowers are produced in clusters. Seeds are in the form of achenes and cylindrical in shape.
