Click on images to enlarge
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
softly hairy stems and leaf stalks (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
the broad hairy leaves have slightly-lobed margins (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of whitish leaf underside (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
large clusters of small yellow flower-heads (Photo: Trevor James)
close-up of flower-heads, each with several tiny tubular flowers (Photo: Trevor James)
young plant (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Scientific Name
Roldana petasitis (Sims) H. Rob. & Brettell
Synonyms
Cineraria petasitis SimsSenecio petasitis (Sims) DC.
Family
Asteraceae (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)Compositae (South Australia)
Common Names
California geranium, roldana, velvet groundsel
Origin
Native to southern Mexico and Central America (i.e. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua).
Naturalised Distribution
Naturalised in some parts of south-eastern Australia (i.e. in the coastal districts of northern and central New South Wales and in southern Victoria). Also naturalised on Lord Howe Island and sparingly naturalised in south-eastern Queensland.
Also naturalised in New Zealand.
Notes
Velvet groundsel (Roldana petasitis) is regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales.