Ragwort (Senecio jacobea)

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Family: Daisy ( Asteraceae. )

This plant is the exclusive food of the Cinnabar catepillar which gives rise to the Cinnabar Moth . By feeding on this weed the caterpillars convert the toxins to a substance which makes them unpalatable to birds who do not eat them . Ragwort is a toxic plant and can cause liver damage in horses .Horses naturally avoid it but sometimes owners bale poor quality hay and be eaten without the horse knowing !!

Poisonous biennial or perennial of grazed grassland and verges. Widespread and common throughout. Leaves are pinnately divided with a blunt end lobe. Flat-topped clusters of yellow flower heads, 15 to 25mm across, appear June tp November.Height up to 1m

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MEET THE CINNABAR MOTH.....