Inula
| Inula | |
|---|---|
| |
| Inula helenium[1] | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Tribe: | |
| Genus: | Inula |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Inula is a large genus of about 90 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa.
They may be annuals, herbaceous perennials or subshrubs that vary greatly in size, from small species a few centimeters tall to enormous perennials over 3 m (10 ft) tall. They carry yellow daisy-like composite flowerheads often with narrow ray-florets.
Some common characteristics include pappus with bristles, flat capitulum, and lack of chaff.
Several species are popular flowers for the garden, with cultivation going back to antiquity. The name Inula was already used by the Romans and derived from Helen of Troy fame.[3] The smaller species are used in rock gardens and the more common larger ones, which tend to have very coarse foliage, in borders.
Selected species
Select species formerly in Inula
- Inula dysenterica L. => Pulicaria dysenterica (L.) Bernh.
- Inula graminifolia Michx. => Pityopsis graminifolia (Michx.) Nutt.
- Inula graveolens (L.) Desf. => Dittrichia graveolens (L.) Greuter – stinkwort, stinkweed
- Inula indica L. => Pentanema indicum (L.) Y.Ling
- Inula mariana L. => Chrysopsis mariana (L.) Elliott
- Inula primulifolia Lam. => Conyza primulifolia (Lam.) Cuatrec. & Lourteig
- Inula subaxillaris Lam. => Heterotheca subaxillaris (Lam.) Britton & Rusby
- Inula viscosa => Dittrichia viscosa – false yellowhead, sticky fleabane, woody fleabane
Ecology
Inula species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including case-bearers of the genus Coleophora, such as C. conyzae (recorded on I. conyzae), C. follicularis, C. inulae, and C. troglodytella.
References
- ^ 1897 illustration from Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
- ^ a b Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist
- ^ Melderis, A. (2007). A Handbook of British Flowering Plants. READ BOOKS. p. 271. ISBN 1-4067-6632-1. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
External links
- Flora Europaea: Inula
- Flora of China: list of Chinese Inula species
- Anderberg, A. (1991). "Taxonomy and phylogeny of tribe Inuleae (Asteraceae)". Pl. Syst. Evol. 176 (1–2): 75–123. doi:10.1007/BF00937947.
- Rubina Abid and M. Qaiser (2003). "Chemotoxonomic study of Inula L. (s.str.) and its allied genera (Inuleae - Compositae) from Pakistan and Kashmir". Pak. J. Bot. 35 (2): 127–140.
