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• Inula salicina

Inula salicina — willow-leaved yellowhead

Facts

Willow-leaved yellowhead is a central-European species that was once collected in a waste area in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • the main bracts are of a different shape than the given options

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are acuminate (tapered to a narrow point)

  Bract width

  1.5–2.5

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower number

  more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top
  • the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head shape

  the flower head is hemispherical (like the bottom half of a sphere)

  Flower head width

  10–50 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Inflorescence shape

  NA

  Ovary beak

  there is no beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is another shape

  Ray flower color

  • orange
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  • 26-50
  • more than 50

  Ray length

  10–15 mm

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Width of flower head base

  10–20 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1.5–2 mm

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft length

  6–10 mm

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  • the plant is annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth
  • the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf is cordate (heart-shaped) or sagittate (arrow-shaped)

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  20–80 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade width

  12–20 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  man-made or disturbed habitats

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point downwards, or they bend outwards and downwards

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae