Israel wildflowers: Potato weed

Galinsoga parviflora, Potato weed, Gallant-soldiers, Small flowered galinsoga,

Hebrew: גלינסוגה קטנת-פרחים

Scientific name:   Galinsoga parviflora Cav.
Common name:   Potato weed, Gallant-soldiers, Small flowered galinsoga
Hebrew name:   גלינסוגה קטנת-פרחים
Plant Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Location: Sea of Galilee, Mount of Beatitudes

Life form:   Annual
Stems:   30-60 cm tall, erect or spreading, much branched, slender, hairy
Leaves:   Opposite, entire, lanceolate to ovate, dentate or serrate
Inflorescence:   Numerous small flower heads, scattered at ends of branches
Flowers:   Polygamous,small flowerheads with centres of yellow disk/tubular florets surrounded by several (usually 5) small white ray florets
Fruits / pods:   Ray florets fruit, an achene, 2mm long, slightly hairy, with or without a pappus of short bristles; disc florets fruit, an achene, 1.8mm long, slightly hairy, with a pappus of hairy-edged scales that are 1.5mm long
Flowering Period:   January, February, March, April, December
Habitat:   Cultivated areas; weeds
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands
Chorotype:   American
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Location: Sea of Galilee, Mount of Beatitudes

Derivation of the botanical name:

Galinsoga, after Mariano Martinez Galinsoga, 1766-1797, Spanish court physician and Director of the Madrid Botanical Garden.

parviflora, parvus, small, little, insignificant; florus, floreo, to bloom, to flower; small flowered.

  • The standard author abbreviation Cav. is used to indicate Antonio José Cavanilles (1745 – 1804), a Spanish taxonomic botanist.