''Pentanema squarrosum'', known as ploughman's-spikenard, is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

found in Europe, North Africa, and the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

.Altervista Flora Italiana, ''Inula conyzae'' (Griess.) DC.
includes photos and European distribution map It is a tall, hairy plant (to 1.2 m) that grows on

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

, low-nutrient, well-drained soils. It is a short lived

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

. Before flowering, the basal rosette of leaves resembles those of

foxgloves ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sha ...

. It flowers after mid-summer in Europe, from July to September. When in flower, the plant has many small flowerheads grouped together into a flat-topped structure that resembles a single flowerhead (

pseudanthium A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

). The individual flowerheads have prominent yellow disc florets and no (or inconspicuous) ray florets. The leaves are burned and used as an insecticide and parasiticide, especially against fleas. Even the smell of the plant is flea repellent. When the root is burned, it becomes a useful room scent (it is used this way in Turkey).

References

External links

Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in SpainPlants for a Future: Inula conyza - DC.
squarrosum Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Flora of North Africa Plants described in 1836 {{Inuleae-stub