Emilia sonchifolia (L.) DC.

Family: Asteraceae

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Asterales > Asteraceae > Emilia > Emilia sonchifolia

Common name [English]: Cupid's Shaving-brush,Red Tassel-flower, Flora's Paint Brush, Purple Sow Thistle

Vernacular name [Malayalam]: മുയൽചെവിയൻ

Nativity: China and South-East Asia

Habitat: Moist shady places, old tree trunks, wetlands, moist places, irrigation channels.

Description: Erect or diffuse herbs. Leaves radical and cauline; radical leaves 4-10 x 1-3 cm, lyrate-pinnatifid with large terminal lobes, semi-orbicular; cauline leaves small, obovate to spathulate. Heads homogamous, not rayed, 1-3 on long slender peduncles. Involucral bracts cylindric, uniseriate, 6-8 mm long, oblong-lanceolate. Florets bisexual. Corolla pink, 3-3.5 mm long, wider to the mouth, lobes 5. Stamens 5; anthers 1-1.5 mm long. Ovary c. 1.5 mm long; style-arms acute. Achenes 1-2 mm long, 5-ribbed, hispid. Pappus white silky, 5-6 mm long

Flowering and Fruiting: July - December

Uses: It is sold in local markets across tropical Asia as food or for use in traditional medicine. The young leaves are used as a vegetable, while the plants are considered of value medicinally in India and China. Ayurveda, Folk medicine, Siddha, Traditional Chinese medicine.

Cultivation: Wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org