Senecio scandens, also known as climbing Senecio, is a climber in the family Asteraceae that is native to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.[1]
Featuring a rhizomatous rootstock, it is a 2-5 metres long evergreen climber that produces slender, scrambling, multibranched woody stems.[1] Frost-tender, it produces yellow daisy-like flowers which are borne in autumn.[2]
The plant is native to China, southern Japan, Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sulawesi), Philippines.[1]
It is found in forests, brushwood, shrublands, rocks, near buildings, watercourses, on elevations from sea level to 4,000 metres at the highest.[1]
The plant is used as a medicinal herb in China, where it is a constituent of more than 100 herbal medicines. The plant contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids.[1] Furthermore, many compounds are present, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic acids, terpenes, volatile oils and carotenoids, in addition to anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-leptospirosis, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antiviral, antitumoral, analgesic, mutagenic, and toxicological activities.[3]