Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Asterales > Asteraceae > Eclipta > E. prostrata

Description: Herbs, caespitose, up to 25 cm high; stems terete, appressed strigose. Leaves simple, opposite, 1-3 x 0.2-0.5 cm, oblong, oblong-lanceolate or oblong-elliptic, acute or subacuminate at apex, cuneate at base, entire, densely strigose, sessile or subsessile. Heads 4-5 mm across; peduncles appressed strigose, 2-4 mm long. Involucral bracts in 2 rows; outer bracts 5, ovate-elliptic, ca 3.5 x 2.5 mm, subacuminate at apex, cuneate at base, strigose outside, glabrous inside, with 9 veins; inner bracts 5, elliptic-obovate, ca 3 x 1.5 mm, subacuminate at apex, cuneate at base, sparsely strigose outside, glabrous inside, with 4 veins. Ray florets 2-3- seriate, female, ca 4 mm long. Sepals minute, ovate, acute, membranous. Corolla ca 2.5 mm long; tube ca 0.8 mm long; limb ca 1.6 mm long, with 2 unequal, obtuse-tipped lobes at apex. Disk florets numerous, ca 3 mm long. Corolla campanulate, 1.6 mm long; lobes 4, ovate, ciliate on margin. Stamens 4 or 5, sagittate. Style branches 2, pubescent. Ovary 1.1-1.2 mm long, hairy at apex. Palea ca 2.2 mm long, hairy in the upper two-third portion. Achenes yellowish brown to brown, oblong-turbinate, dorsiventrally compressed and sharply angled, hairy at apex; pappus of partially or completely united scales forming a cone at the apex.

Flowering and Fruiting: Flower blooms during August to September. Fruit ripes during October to December.

Uses: Ayurveda, Folk medicine, Siddha, Traditional Chinese medicine.

Cultivation: Wild/Cultivated

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org