GROUNDSEL, Senecio vulgaris, an annual, glabrous, or more or less woolly plant of the family Compositae, having a branched succulent stem 6 to 15 in. in height, pinnatifid irregularly and coarsely-toothed leaves, and small cylindrical heads of yellow tubular florets enveloped in an involucre of numerous narrow bracts; the ribbed fruit bears a soft, feathery, hoary tuft of hairs (pappus). The plant is indigenous to Europe, whence it has been introduced into all temperate climates. It is often a troublesome weed, flowering throughout the year, and propagating itself rapidly by means of its light feathery fruits; it is used as a food for cage birds. The groundsel tree, Baccharis halimi f olia, a native of the North American sea-coast from Massachusetts southward to Florida and Texas, is a shrub of the same family attaining 6 ft. to 12 ft. in height, and having angular branches, obovate, some what scurfy leaves, and flowers larger than but similar to those of common groundsel. The long white pappus of the female plant renders it a conspicuous object in autumn. The groundsel tree is sparingly cultivated for ornament. See RAGWORT; SENECIO.
one of the names for a group of (chiefly) North American striped terrestrial squirrel-like rodents, generally known as chipmunks. They are allied to squirrels, from which they are distinguished by the possession of cheek-pouches. The sides and back are marked with light stripes bordered by dark bands; the ears are small, and without tufts, and the tail short. With the exception of one Siberian species (Tamias asiaticus), chipmunks are confined to North America where they are represented by the common chipmunk (T. striatus) of the eastern United States and by some 35 western species (Eutamias). Various spermophiles (Clitellus) of the Mississippi Valley prairies are called ground-squirrels, as are also the spiny-squirrels (Xerus, Euxerus, and Atlantoxerus) of Africa. (See SPERMOPHILE; SPINY