Senecio mattirolii is a perennial herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

 of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

endemic to altitudes between 3600–4500 meters (12,000 - 15,000 feet)
on the slopes of the mountains of the Ruwenzori Mountains in Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

 and an atypical species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Senecio

Senecio

Senecio is a genus of the daisy family that includes ragworts and groundsels. The flower heads are normally rayed, completely yellow, and the heads are borne in branched clusters...

because it has purple

Purple

Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....

 flowers.

Standing straight and tall and common in the open, stony slopes on the mountains it lives on, Senecio mattirolii achieves heights of 10 to 50 centimeters (4 to 20 inches).

Stem

Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...

s and leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

: A well-developed, above ground, reddish colored stem. The leaves are lobed and have a 'crisped' appearance by being irregularly curled or twisted. Leaves closer to the base are often reddish and attached directly to the stem with stalks from 2 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) long. Leaves have an oblong shape sometimes spatulate tipped, 5 to 13 centimeters (2 to 5 inches) long and 1 - 2 centimeters wide. Farther up the stem, the leaves are smaller 2 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) long and 3 to 10 millimeters wide.

Flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s: Flower heads have a flat circular shape and are held straight up by the plant. They appear in clusters of 2 to 6 which grow upward from various points on the main stem to approximately the same height with the outer flowers opening first. The phyllaries are purplish. There are no ray florets and the disc florets are purple

Purple

Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....

 or mauve

Mauve

Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....

 colored.

Fruits: Achene

Achene

An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...

s 3 to 4 millimetes long, ribbed and not hairy. Pappus

Pappus (flower structure)

The pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual disk, ray or ligule floret surrounding the base of the corolla, in flower heads of the plant family Asteraceae. The pappus may be composed of bristles , awns, scales, or may be absent. In some species, the pappus is too small to see...

6 to 7 millimeters long.