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Common Name: Xuan Fu Hua
Inula britannica is a perennial plant that can grow up to 0.75 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine..
Europe to E. Asia. Formerly naturalized in Britain, but probably now extinct there[
Moist meadows, streamsides, ditches, wet woods etc[
|Pollinators||Bees, Flies, Self
Succeeds in a sunny position in any moderately fertile well-drained soil[
]. Grows well in heavy clay soils.
Plants are hardy to at least -15°c[
The sub-species I. britannica chinensis is the form used medicinally[
Xuan Fu Hua is used in Chinese herbalism as a mildly warming expectorant remedy and it is especially suitable where phlegm has accumulated in the chest[
]. The flowers are more commonly used, but the leaves are also used, generally for less serious conditions[
The leaf is discutient and vulnerary[
The flowers are antibacterial, carminative, cholagogue, deobstruent, depurative, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, stomachic and tonic[
]. They are used internally in the treatment of bronchial complaints with profuse phlegm, nausea and vomiting, hiccups and flatulence[
]. The flowers have an antibacterial action, but this can be destroyed by proteins in the body[
]. The plant is harvested when in flower and can be dried for later use[
The root is discutient, resolvent and vulnerary[
The plant has been mentioned as a possible treatment for cancer of the oesophagus[
Seed - sow spring or autumn in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
If you have sufficient seed, it is worthwhile trying a sowing in situ in the spring or the autumn.
Division in spring or autumn[