The Barberton groundsel or succulent bush senecio (Senecio barbertonicus Klatt) is an evergreen succulent shrub of the family Asteraceae and genus Senecio, native to Southern Africa, named after one of its native localities Barberton and is now also being cultivated elsewhere for its drought resistance, clusters of sweetly scented, golden-yellow, tufted flower heads in winter and attractiveness to butterflies, the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) in particular. Description A succulent bush growing over tall and wide with a fleshy trunk, light green, cylindrical, finger-like leaves in length and in diameter, densely packed around the stem and curved at the base to lie parallel to the stem and pointing upwards. The fragrant yellow flowers, wide and long, bloom July through September, are terminal and produce seeds with a dense tuft of bristles. Senecio barbertonicus is hardy to at least . Distribution Senecio barbertonicus grows predominantly in rocky grassland and bushveld in Southern Africa in areas ranging from Eswatini and Mozambique, to Eastern parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa at elevations between . It is locally common in protected areas in eastern, central, and southwestern Eswatini in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North-West. References Further reading Wild Flowers of KwaZulu-Natal - Elsa Pooley (Natal Flora Trust, Durban 1998) barbertonicus Flora of South Africa