Family: Asteraceae (daisies)

Status:

Description:
An erect annual herb, 1-2m high, which is usually single stemmed or lightly branched. Leaves are finely divided into long narrow lobes. Flowers are very small, enclosed within a green sheath, in dense terminal clusters. Seeds are black, linear and 5-8mm long. The whole plant is strongly and unpleasantly aromatic.

Preferred habitat and impacts:
Occurs mostly along roadsides and on waste ground, preferring moist soil. Grows largest on disturbed sites with fertile soils such as stock camps or riverbanks, but will tolerate dry sites and poor soils.

Dispersal:
Seed is mostly spread in contaminated soil along roadsides.

Look-alikes
The native plant Senecio bipinnatisectus is quite similar in the erect, single-stemmed form of the plant and the leaf shape. Although it also belongs to the daisy family, its flowers and seed-heads are quite different from those of stinking roger. It has more typical small spherical fluffy seedheads. It grows around gully edges, often in slightly disturbed sites.

Control
Hand pull prior to seeding.