Flora of Israel: Dittrichia viscosa

Inula viscosa, Dittrichia viscosa, Strong-Smelling Inula,
Hebrew: טיון דביק, Arabic: نويطلا


Scientific name:		Inula viscosa (L.) Aiton
Synonym name:		Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter
Common name:		False yellowhead, Strong-Smelling Inula
Hebrew name:		טיון דביק
Arabic name:		نويطلا At-Teewan
Plant Family:		Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:		Chamaephyte
Stems:		50-150cm, often woody below, with a strong bituminous smell on bruising; stems of the plant are coated with a sticky resin
Leaves:		Alternate, narrowly lanceolate to oblong, pointed or acuminate, entire, dentate or serrate, stalkless, sticky
Flowers:		Yellow heads, campanulate, in loose pyramidical panicles: rays c.1cm; involucral bracts linear; apressed
Fruits / pods:		Cypselae; spindle-shaped, hairy; pappus-hairs whitish
Flowering Period:		July, August, September, October, November, December
Habitat:		Riparian
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name:

inula, from Helen of Troy, being fabled to have sprung up from the ground where her tears were supposed to have fallen.

viscosa, sticky, clammy; referring mainly to the sticky exudate from the glandular hairs.
Dittrichia, named for the German botanist Manfred Dittrich (1934- ).
The Hebrew name: טיון, tayun (New Hebrew), elecampane, inula.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
The standard author abbreviation Greuter is used to indicate Werner Rodolfo Greuter (born 1938), a Swiss national, and prominent botanist.
The standard author abbreviation Aiton is used to indicate William Aiton (1731 – 1793), a Scottish botanist.

See the list of Medicinal herbs in Israel, the parts used and their medical uses to treat various diseases.