Senecio mattirolii is a perennial herb of the family Asteraceae endemic to altitudes between 3600–4500 meters (12,000 - 15,000 feet) on the slopes of the mountains of the Ruwenzori Mountains in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and an atypical species of the genus Senecio because it has purple flowers. Standing straight and tall and common in the open, stony slopes on the mountains it lives on, Senecio mattirolii achieves heights of 10 to 50 centimeters (4 to 20 inches).