Species

Inula conyzae

Etymology

Inula: Believed to be a corruption of helenium, Inula helenium (Elecampane) being the Inula campana of medieval Latin (Johnson and Smith, 1986).

Common Name(s)

ploughman's spikenard

Authority

Inula conyzae (Griess.) Meikle

Family

Asteraceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs - Composites

Features

Erect, shortly rhizomatous perennial up to c. 1m tall. Stems densely hairy, branched above to form infl. Lower cauline leaves sparsely to moderately hairy on upper surface, tomentose on lower, elliptic, long-cuneate, acute, finely denticulate, up to c. 15 x 14 cm; upper lvs similar but smaller and short-cuneate or obtuse at base. Capita 8-12 mm diam., many in corymbs. Outer involucral bracts sparsely hairy and ciliate, herbaceous at apex, subulate, 2-5 mm long; inner bracts sparsely hairy and ciliate, membranous, linear-lanceolate, 8-12 mm long. Ray florets numerous; ligules inconspicuous, yellow, c. 1 mm long. Disc yellow. Mature achenes not seen, sparsely hairy. (Webb et al 1988)

Flowering

January, February

Flower Colours

Yellow

Year Naturalised

1988

Origin

Europe to W. Asia, N. Africa

References and further reading

Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.

This page last updated on 3 Jun 2014