Description:
A rosette forming, biennial or perennial plant with backward pointing lobes on its leaves and single bright yellow daisy-like flowers on long stalks and milky sap
As A Soil Indicator:
Very low Calcium, Very high Magnesium, High Chlorine, Low humus in the soil , Good drainage
Life cycle:
Biennial or perennial. Seeds germinate in autumn and to a lesser extent in spring. It grows mainly in the warmer months.
Beneficial:
Honey plant. Attracts beneficial insects. Leaves bitter but edible as a salad vegetable. Roasted roots are ground and used as a coffee substitute. Does not host Root Lesion Nematodes
Naturalised Distribution:
widely naturalised in southern and eastern Australia (i.e. in eastern Queensland, many parts of New South Wales and South Australia, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania and south western Western Australia). Also naturalised in the southern parts of the Northern Territory, and Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island
Toxicity:
Suspected of causing hay fever.
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