E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Inula helenium L.
elecampane
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© RĂ©al Sarrazin  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #26686)

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Distribution of Inula helenium
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from a thick fleshy rhizome; stems erect, solitary, simple or sometimes branched, finely spreading-hairy, up to 2 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves alternate, irregularly shallowly-toothed, velvety beneath, nearly glabrous or spreading-hairy above, lower leaves stalked and elliptic, upper leaves more or less egg-shaped, unstalked or heart-shaped and clasping at the base, 25-50 cm long, 10-20 cm wide.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers with a few large flat or convex receptacles on stalks; involucres 2-2.5 cm tall; outer involucral bracts broad, densely short-hairy, inner ones narrow, more or less papery; ray flowers yellow, slender, 2.5-3 cm long; disks usually 3-5 cm wide.
Fruits:
Achenes 4-angled, glabrous, 4.5-5 mm long; pappus of numerous hairlike bristles, longer than the achenes.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic waste places in the lowland zone; rare in SW BC, known only from the lower Fraser Valley; introduced from Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References