Inula salicina Seeds | Willow-leaved Inula

Small, pale brown Willow-Leaved Inula seeds with a tuft of fine bristles, on a plain background — Willow-Leaved Inula (*Inula salicina*): Asteraceae, native to moist meadows and fen margins across Europe and western Asia.

LATIN NAME: Inula salicina

COMMON NAME: Willow-Leaved Inula

Plant Profile

Willow-Leaved Inula is an upright perennial of the daisy family, 30 to 80 cm tall, with narrow, willow-like leaves that are glossy above and slightly hairy beneath. From June to August it carries flat, golden-yellow flower heads about four centimetres across, each with a ring of narrow ray florets around a central disc.

It grows in damp meadows, fen margins and calcareous grassland across Europe and into western Asia, and it is a plant of unimproved, traditionally managed ground. In Britain it is rare and local, while on the continent it is more widespread. The stems are slender and slightly hairy, and the whole plant has a resinous smell when crushed.

Science & Biotechnology

The species contains inulin in its roots and sesquiterpene lactones in its aerial parts, a combination typical of the genus and the reason Inula has a long place in European pharmacy. Alantolactone and isoalantolactone, the compounds that give elecampane its bitter taste, occur in related species and have been studied for antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity.

Its flowering heads are visited by a wide range of bees, hoverflies and butterflies, and the plant is one of the species used in studies of pollinator networks in traditionally managed hay meadows. It spreads by seed and by short rhizomes, forming loose colonies rather than dense stands. The plant is also a larval food source for a few moth species, though it is not a major host for any of them.

Uses & Benefits

In the garden it is a plant for a meadow strip or the back of a moist border, where its yellow heads carry the border through midsummer and its seed heads feed finches in autumn. It is not fussy about soil as long as it does not dry out completely.

Inula species have been used in European herbal medicine for coughs and chest complaints, and the root of elecampane, a close relative, is still used for that purpose. Willow-Leaved Inula is milder and less studied, and is best treated as a garden plant rather than a home remedy. Cut flowers last only a few days in water, so it is better left in the border than brought indoors.

Growing from Seed

Sow on the surface of a gritty, well-drained mix in spring, covering the seed with a fine layer of compost, and keep it at 18 to 20 °C. Germination takes two to four weeks and is usually reliable with fresh seed.

Plant out in full sun or light shade in any soil that stays reasonably moist, and water through the first summer. Cut the stems back after flowering if self-sowing is not wanted; the plant is a modest spreader and rarely becomes a nuisance. Divide congested clumps every three or four years. On heavy soil, add grit to the planting hole and plant on a slight mound so that winter water drains away.

Our Take

A yellow daisy for damp ground, flowering when the meadow is between flushes. Easy, modest in size, and generous with nectar.

Herb Seeds