An excited gardener posted on Face-book, “I’ve finally got my Senecio!”
Okay—but which senecio could that be? This genus in the Compositae (the daisy family) includes about 1,250 species. It’s represented on every continent but Antarctica. I set out to uncover just what plant inspired the social-media announcement, and I unearthed some fascinating possibilities along the way.
Is it a string of something?
Maybe the mystery plant is string of dolphins. Its accepted Latin name is ×Bacurio delphinatifolius, with the “×” indicating that it’s a hybrid. But it’s also known as Senecio peregrinus.
Native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa, #stringofdolphins is Instagram famous. It can grow as a hanging plant, or it
