Senecio transmarinus is a sometimes straggling member of the flowering plants 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...

 and species of the genus 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...

a perennial herb
that grows on the higher elevations 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...

.

inflorescences with several flowerheads with strikin
large yellow ray florets.

Description

Sometimes straggling and sometimes straight and found in the heathbelt

Heath (habitat)

A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...

 and "alpine zone" between 3,000 and 4,200 meters (9,800 to 14,000 feet), Senecio transmarinus plants are much larger at lower altitudes than at the higher altitudes.

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....

: Stems 30 to 240 centimeters (12 to 94 inches) tall and are mostly without hairs. Leaves at the base are 3 to 8 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) long, a measurement which includes the petiole

Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...

, and 1 to 2 centimeters wide. Leaves are lobed and somewhat waxy or sparsely hairy and sometimes 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....

 on the bottom.

Flowers: "Inflorescences with several flower heads with striking large yellow ray florets" in clusters of 1 to many, each with 6 to 12 yellow ray florets and 5-veined disc yellow disc florets.

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 4 to 5 millimeters long and hairless; 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...

5 to 8 millimeters long.