Dittrichia viscosa

Dittrichia viscosa

The false yellowhead or woody fleabane, sticky fleabane, yellow fleabane (Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter, 1973) is a herbaceous species belonging to the Asteraceae family.

Systematic –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Division Magnoliophyta,
Class Magnoliopsida,
Order Asteridae,
Suborder Asterales,
Asteraceae family,
Subfamily Asteroideae,
Inuleae Tribe,
Genus Dittrichia,
Species D. viscose.
The term is basionym:
– Erigeron viscosus L..
The terms are synonymous:
– Erigeron viscosus L.;
– Inula viscosa (L.) Aiton.
The following subspecies are recognized within this species:
– Dittrichia viscosa subsp. angustifolia (Bég.) Greuter;
– Dittrichia viscosa subsp. maritima (Brullo & De Marco) Greuter;
– Dittrichia viscosa subsp. revoluta (Hoffmanns. & Link) P.Silva & Tutin;
– Dittrichia viscosa subsp. viscosa.

Etymology –
The term Dittrichia was given in honor of Manfred Dittrich (1934- ), an Asteraceae specialist who was director of the Berlin Botanical Garden.
The specific epithet viscose comes from viscum mistletoe: slimy, sticky, viscous: for the sticky leaves.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Dittrichia viscosa is a plant native to the coastal regions of the Mediterranean, but due to its rusticity and ability to adapt, it often moves inland and has also naturalized in other regions of Europe and North America. In Italy it is very common in all regions of the peninsula and islands, while it is less frequent in the north.
Its habitat is that of ditches, desolate or abandoned lands and rocky hills and it is a typically heliophilous and ruderal species, therefore it is easily found in uncultivated lands, in ruins, along roads and headlands, on cliffs and on embankments. Due to its rusticity and ability to adapt, it also colonizes poor, dry, stony soils, where it was originally found mainly in dry river beds and abandoned fields up to an altitude of 1500 m. Nowadays it is quite common in roadsides and ruderal environments, even in urban areas. It is considered an invasive species in some regions such as Australia.

Description –
Dittrichia viscosa is a fruit that is woody at the base and abundantly branched, vigorous, with erect branches, generally 50–80 cm high, exceptionally up to 150 cm, and with pubescent, glandular and viscous leaves and shoots, giving off a strong aromatic odor of resin.
The upper leaves partially embrace the stem, often branched, with dense foliage and a downy top. The leaves are alternate, oblong-lanceolate, entire or toothed, 3-7 cm long and 6-12 mm wide and reduce in size towards the top while the upper ones are sessile and semi-embracing.
The flowers are gathered in showy elongated yellow flower heads, pyramidal with numerous floral heads of 10-20 mm, with ligules of 6-8 mm, clearly longer than the implical bracts, few in number, yellow, female, with tri/quadridentate lamina 5-7 mm long. The flowers are hermaphroditic, with a quinquefid corolla with equal teeth, of a yellowish orange colour. The receptacle is naked but with alveoli surrounded by a toothed crown.
It blooms gradually from August to October, with overlapping flowers and fruits.
The fruits are hairy cypseles (achenes), about 2 mm long, homomorphic with glands in the distal part, beige to brown in color and with a pappus of rigid and rough bristles, fragile but persistent, arranged in a single row on a marked ring discoidal basal and surrounding a persistent clear pentagonal nectary.

Cultivation –
Dittrichia viscosa is a perennial plant that is collected in the wild for local use as a source of materials.
This plant resists mowing well, regrowing vigorously and is rejected by livestock due to the stickiness of the leaves and the resinous aroma. It can become invasive, behaving like a weed in degraded pastures and in the rows of extensive tree plantations (vineyards, olive groves, orchards), while it shuns regularly cultivated arable land over the entire surface.
It is a plant that grows freely in a sunny position even in gardens and uncultivated areas.
To grow it it is necessary to choose a sunny or partially shaded place. The plant prefers well-drained soil, rich in nutrients and with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. It is important to water the plant regularly, especially during periods of drought.
Propagation occurs by seed with sowing in the spring period even in the open field.
It can also be propagated by division in spring or autumn.

Customs and Traditions –
Dittrichia viscosa, despite the fresh green color of its leaves and attractive inflorescence, is a sticky plant that has a certain odor that most people find unpleasant. Contains an essential oil used since ancient times in traditional medicine, especially in the Levant, as an astringent; furthermore it has been known, since ancient times, as a dye; in fact, a yellow coloring substance was produced from its roots.
On the Island of Elba and in Corsica it is now used by residents and tourists to treat jellyfish, bee and wasp stings by pressing the fresh leaves on the skin with rapid results. It is called pescada in the local dialect.
This plant is used in the medical field. Although it is generally considered a weed, it has multiple applications in traditional home medicine against malaria, urinary tract diseases, and as an astringent. The infusion of its leaves is used as a remedy for arthritis and rheumatism disorders.
It is also appreciated as a medicinal plant for the essential oil extracted from the plant, especially in the eastern Mediterranean area.
It also has the particularity of stopping the bleeding of minor wounds. Using only the chopped leaves as a poultice.
In some regions of Sardinia it would have been used, in the past, as a soothing agent for rheumatic pain. In Sicily it was attributed hemostatic and healing properties. In Tuscany the fresh leaves were used to combat excessive sweating of the feet. In Liguria the dried leaves were used by the poor as a substitute for tobacco. It was used to keep mice out of barns, where it was mixed with hay.
D. viscosa is a melliferous plant abundantly foraged by bees, above all due to its abundant pollen production and long flowering. This plant therefore contributes to the production of wildflower honey in late summer and autumn and, in widespread areas, monofloral honey.
However, its honey is little appreciated on the market both for its flavor and for its irregular crystallization. On average it has a higher humidity than other honeys and this aspect poses problems for conservation as at moderately high temperatures it can easily undergo fermentation. The hydroxymethylfurfural content is often higher on average than other honeys, indicating a lower stability of this product. However, the plant represents its usefulness in beekeeping for the creation of strong families, with the aim of producing swarms the following spring.
Warm autumns can lead to an overlap in the flowering of the strawberry tree with that of the inula. Despite having different habitats, strawberry tree and inula can be found at relatively short distances and foraging bees can visit this plant to collect both nectar and pollen. Consequently, it is possible to contaminate strawberry tree honey, which is much more valuable, with nectar and pollen from inula.
From an ecological point of view, it is a plant that some caterpillars, such as Iolana iolas, feed on. Furthermore, the plant galls are also the habitat of Myopites stylatus and Myopites inulaedyssentericae, both predators of the olive fly, from which its name in Catalan could derive: Olivarda.
Since Dittrichia viscosa is attacked by Myopites stylatus, a root-knot Diptera, an insect that represents the wintering host of Eupelmus urozonus, a polyphagous parasitoid of the Chalcidoid Hymenoptera that carries out 2-3 generations per year on the olive fly. Since Eupelmus is the most active natural antagonist of the olive fly, the spread of the inula in the uncultivated areas of olive groves is fundamental because it can contribute to the control of the phytophagous in agroecological systems. The most developed branches of the plant are one of the preferential sites for the nesting of wasps belonging to the Polistes genus, in particular Polistes gallicus, a species with a typically Mediterranean distribution.

Preparation Method –
Dittrichia viscosa is a plant known since ancient times both as a dyeing plant and as a medicinal plant.
It is used in some areas to treat jellyfish, bee and wasp stings by pressing the fresh leaves onto the skin with quick results.
It also has multiple applications in folk medicine against malaria, urinary tract diseases and as an astringent.
An infusion is obtained from its leaves which is used as a remedy for arthritis and rheumatism disorders.
It is also appreciated as a medicinal plant for the essential oil extracted from the plant, especially in the eastern Mediterranean area.
It also has the particularity of stopping the bleeding of minor wounds. Using only the chopped leaves as a poultice.
In some regions it would have been used, in the past, as a soothing agent for rheumatic pain but also for its hypothetical hemostatic and healing properties.
Furthermore, the fresh leaves were used to combat excessive sweating of the feet or also used, in past times, as a substitute for tobacco.
Finally it was used to keep mice away from barns, where it was mixed with hay.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Photo source:
– https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/294025981/original.jpeg
– https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dittrichia_viscosa.jpg

Attention: Pharmaceutical applications and food uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; we therefore decline any responsibility for their use for healing, aesthetic or food purposes.