Family: Asteraceae (the sunflower family)

Common names: British elecampane; British yellowhead; Meadow fleabane

Description: The plant is an erect biennial, 6 to 30 inches in height. The leaves have soft downy hairs above and are densely pubescent on the underside. The margins of the leaf are even or finely toothed. Generally, the lower leaves are 1.5-6 inches by 0.4-1 in. Many sources consider this plant a perennial.

Sexual Reproduction: The yellow flower heads are medium to large, 0.8 to 1 inch. The flower heads occur alone or in clusters of two or three. Flowering occurs in July and August.

Habitat: This plant prefers wet habitats: river and stream margins, marshes, ditches, wet grassland, and wet woods.

Native distribution: Europe and temperate Asia.

North American historical distribution: In Canada, I. britannica was introduced into Ontario around 1928, along the Etobicoke River and into Quebec, 1979 or before, on Dupas Island in the St. Lawrence River, where it forms a colony in a pasture. A specimen was collected in 1915 at Hewlett, Nassau County (close to New York City on Long Island). The species, collected in an area that is now densely populated, likely did not persist.