Don't be fooled.....it's a weed

Yellow Ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, was introduced into New Zealand as a garden plant in 1870. However it has long since “jumped the fence” to become a major weed of pasture and wasteland over most of New Zealand. It is toxic to grazing animals, causing liver damage. We are lucky that we don't have a lot of this weed on our farm, and of the plants that we do have, most have the cinnabar caterpillar, who do a fabulous job at eating the plant down before it flowers and goes to seed.

Regardless of it being a weed, the flowers are rather pretty when bunched together as in this photo. It's not the type of flower that I would have inside in a vase though!