Senecio pulcher is an ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

 native to the wet valleys & slopes and flooded rocky
habitats in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, and Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

. Cited in Flora Brasiliensis

Flora Brasiliensis

Flora Brasiliensis is a book published between 1840 and 1906 by the editors Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, August Wilhelm Eichler, Ignatz Urban and many others...

by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius was a German botanist and explorer.Martius was born at Erlangen, where he graduated M.D. in 1814, publishing as his thesis a critical catalogue of plants in the botanic garden of the university...

. After Dusty miller (S. cineraria

Jacobaea maritima

Jacobaea maritima is a perennial plant species in the genus Jacobaea in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region...

), S. pulcher is perhaps one of the most popular species of the genus for horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 along with German Ivy (Senecio mikanioides) and Purple ragwort (Senecio elegans

Senecio elegans

Senecio elegans is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names wild cineraria, purple ragwort, and redpurple ragwort. It is native to southern Africa, and it is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its colorful flowers...

) or it was in 1917.

Description

A robust 2 foot (0.6096 m) to 4 feet (1.2 m) tall erect herb perennial with a stem covered with 'cobwebby' hairs. Its scarce leaves 4 inches (10.2 cm) to 10 inches (25.4 cm) long, shallow lobes along the margin with teeth and a thick taper at the tip.

The late summer inflorescence very striking; the radiate flower heads, 2 inches (5.1 cm) to 3 inches (7.6 cm) across with many long red-purple rays and a yellow disc.

Distribution

S. Pulcher grows at altitudes between 0 foot (0 m) and 2600 feet (792.5 m) in Southern Brazil, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 and the southern mountains in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

Horticulture

S. pulcher is grown as an ornamental plant in the United States and Europe;
flowering in late summer; it is known to be hardy in southern New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 in protected places with well drained soils, but its beauty can be marred by frost

Frost

Frost is the solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air. It is formed when solid surfaces are cooled to below the dew point of the adjacent air as well as below the freezing point of water. Frost crystals' size differ depending on time and water vapour available. Frost is also usually...

 and bad weather.

A native perennial, as a captive, S. pulcher is an annual who is hesitant to ripen its seed; the gardeners continue the species with inch long root cuttings over-wintered in a pan of light sandy soil in a greenhouse.