Israel wildflowers: Golden aster

Heterotheca subaxillaris, Inula subaxillaris, Golden aster, Camphorweed,

Hebrew: הטרותיקת החולות, טיונית החולות, Arabic: طيون الرمال

Scientific name:   Heterotheca subaxillaris (Lam.) Britton & Rusby
Synonym name:   Inula subaxillaris Lam.
Common name:   Golden aster, Camphorweed
Hebrew name:   הטרותיקת החולות ,טיונית החולות
Arabic name:   طيون الرمال
Plant Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Stems:   10–200 cm (aromatic); procumbent to erect, sparsely to densely hispido-strigose, sparsely to densely stipitate-glandular
Leaves:   Alternate, entire
Inflorescence:   Terminal; a corymbose panicle (more or less flat topped), sometimes broad
Flowers:   Yellow flowers in composite heads having both ray and discflowers
Fruits / pods:   Dimorphic cypselae
Flowering Period:   January, February, September, October, November, December
Habitat:   Sand
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands
Chorotype:   American
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Heterotheca, ετεροϛ, hetero, different; -theca, ovary; from the unlike achenes of the ray and disk florets.

subaxillaris, Open air aroma, emit low aromas, camphor.
inula, from Helen of Troy, being fabled to have sprung up from the ground where her tears were supposed to have fallen.
The Hebrew name: הטרותיקת, Heterotheca, transliteration from the scientific name.

  • The standard author abbreviation Lam. is used to indicate Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829), a French botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Britton is used to indicate Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859–1934), a US botanist and taxonomist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Rusby is used to indicate Henry Hurd Rusby (1855–1940), an American botanist.

Heterotheca subaxillaris or camphor weed is a dicotyledonous winter annual weed native to North America. The plant invaded Israel during the last 20 years and rapidly infested a wide range of habitats including cultivated and non-cultivated ecosystems, such as orchards, nature reserves, range land, open fields, waste grounds, roadsides and railroad embankments.