The Superb Groundsel makes a return after 40 years!

The Superb Groundsel (Senecio megaglossus) is a bushy perennial shrub, easily recognised by its bluish-green foliage and large, vibrant yellow daisy-like flowers. Endemic to South Australia, this nationally vulnerable species was once found throughout the central Flinders Ranges, stretching south to the Mount Lofty Ranges.

By the late 1990s, the species was thought to persist only in the Dutchmans Stern area near Quorn, most of the outlying populations were presumed extinct.  However, very few surveys had been conducted to confirm the presence, or absence of these other historical populations.

In 2023, with support from FAME, the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre (SASCC) launched a project aimed at reviewing all historical records, searching for new populations, collecting seed from genetically diverse plants, and cultivating individuals for the establishment of insurance populations.

Extensive fieldwork followed, many miles on foot up and down rivers and gorges, it became evident that the species had vanished from many previously recorded locations, including the southernmost population in Marne River Gorge approximately 300 km from the Dutchmans Stern area, with the last record in 1984. Indeed no seed had been collected from anywhere besides Dutchman Stern and the consensus was that no populations existed outside this region.

Some dedicated sleuthing by the team at the SASCC led to a breakthrough via a vague 1985 record by G. Kuerschner, with a sighting at “Section 361, Hundred of Black Rock Plain, Narien Range, 9 km south of Orroroo.” After careful searching, a small population of 34 plants was rediscovered, 100km from Dutchmans Stern, almost 40 years since last being seen, clinging to the steep, rocky slopes, naturally shielded from grazing. A successful seed collection was made from this population, securing valuable genetic material disjunct from the main population.

While searches for other populations continued, seeds from the Black Rock site were propagated and nurtured at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in preparation for future translocation.  A property approximately 5 km north of the historic Marne River Gorge site was selected for the first translocation effort. Surveys had confirmed that the species was extinct in the area, despite repeated searches over several decades. The site, along a tributary of the Marne River, offers ideal habitat: chocolate loam soils, outcropping calcrete, and protection under a Heritage Agreement. Importantly, the landowner committed to supporting long-term conservation efforts.

In June 2025, after much-needed rainfall following a prolonged drought, SASCC staff and the landowner constructed an exclosure on an open flat near a creek line with Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River Red Gum).  Although there are no domestic livestock on the property, the exclosure was built to protect the young plants from grazing by kangaroos, deer, and rabbits.