Israel wildflowers: Buck’s horn groundsel

Senecio glaucus, Senecio desfontainei, Buck’s horn groundsel,
Hebrew: סביון הערבות, Arabic: جرجير – عر أصفر, Egypt: قرصي “Qorreis”

Scientific name:   Senecio glaucus subsp. coronopifolius (Maire) C. Alexander L.
Synonym name:   Senecio coronopifolius Desf.,Senecio desfontainei Druce
Common name:   Buck’s horn groundsel
Hebrew name:   סביון הערבות
Arabic name:   جرجير – عر أصفر
Egypt:   قرصي “Qorreis”
Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:   Therophyte, annual
Succulence:   Leaf succulent
Leaves:   Alternate, dissected, pinnate
Flowers:   Yellow
Flowering Period:   February, March, April
Habitat:   Shrub-steppes, Desert
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Irano-Turanian – Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Senecio, Latin senex, old man; from the vhoary pappus of these herbs. referring to the gray hairs on the seeds.

glaucus, γλαυκοϛ bright, sparkling, gleaming; grayish, bluish-green (for plants, a white bloom on a leaf giving a gray-green appearance).
coronopifolius, with leaves like Coronopus.
desfontainei, named for the French botanist, René Louiche Desfontaines (1750 – 1833), a French botanist.
The Hebrew name: סביון, savion, from סב, sav (=old man); loan translation of the scientific name Senecio, from latin senecio, (=groundsel), from senex (=old man).

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Maire is used to indicate René Charles Joseph Ernest Maire (1878 – 1949), a French botanist and mycologist.
  • The standard author abbreviation C. Alexander is used to indicate James Crinan Murray Alexander (born 1944), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Desf. is used to indicate René Louiche Desfontaines (1750 – 1833), a French botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Druce is used to indicate George Claridge Druce (1850 – 1932), an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford.