Pentanema orientale - Oriental Inula

Oriental Inula is an erect, perennial herb, glandular, velvet-hairy; stems up to 75 cm long, branched, hairy below, hairy above, leafy throughout. Leaves are elliptic-ovate, wedge-shaped, stem-clasping at base, pointed, gland sawtoothed, 5-12 x 1-3 cm, hairy, stalkless. Flower-heads yellow, solitary, at branch-ends, 3-8 cm across. Involucral bracts are blackish green, in many series, linear-lanceshaped, about 11 x 2 mm, thick hairy at margins midrib ending in a glandular tip. Ray are florets yellow, about 1.8 cm long, 2-3-toothed at tip; ligules linear, oblong, 3-5-ribbed; tube about 4-5 mm. Disc florets are yellow, numerous, about 7 mm, 5-lobed; flower tubular, 5 mm long; limb 2 mm long. Style is bifid, flat. Achenes are brown, oblong, about 1 mm long, faintly ribbed. Pappus about 6.5-7 mm long. Oriental Inula is found in Temperate Himalayas, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Pakistan and Caucasus. The shruberies are very common in Kashmir. The aromatic roots of this species are used as an adulterant of "Kuth" (Saussurea costus). Flowering: July-September.