Senecio nemorensis aka Alpine Ragwort

Senecio nemorensis is part of the daisy family. This family has the name Asteraceae. Kew gives its native range as central Europe to Japan and Vietnam. Its range thus spans parts of Europe and Asia. This does not mean it is native throughout both regions. Kew also calls it a plant of temperate climates. That broad climate label does not give its garden needs. The records give a native range, but not full growing advice.

This species is a perennial: it lives for several years. Kew describes its growth form as a rhizomatous geophyte. This term refers to growth with stems below the ground. These stems have a name of their own: rhizomes. The description means the plant can have such stems. The supplied records give no size for the full-grown species. They state neither its height nor how wide it spreads. So they do not show how much space it needs.

The RHS lists Senecio nemorensis as a correct name. It says the species is not native to Britain or Ireland. This is a statement about its native status there. It does not establish how well it grows in gardens. The supplied records do not say how much cold it withstands. Nor do they set out the soil it needs. They leave its garden hardiness and soil needs unknown.

The records also lack details about this species’ flowers and fruit. They do not state when it blooms. This leaves no basis here for a bloom date. The gaps apply to the species as a whole. The supplied material does include more detailed care and food records. But those records concern Senecio nemorensis fuchsii. They do not cover Senecio nemorensis as a whole.

That difference limits what the care and food records can show. They cannot establish the growing needs of the whole species. Nor can they show which of its parts are edible. They do not establish whether this species is safe. Its use as food thus remains unresolved in this evidence. The same is true of its toxicity. The records provide no basis for a firm claim either way.