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Emilia sonchifolia
In Singapore: Katumbi Jantan, Cupid's Shaving Brush, Emilia, Lilac Tasselflower, Red Tassel Flower, Purple Sow Thistle, Flora's Paintbrush (Grown in Singapore)
Lilac tasselflower is a small, branching annual herb in the daisy family, widespread in tropical regions and grown as a weed or edible leafy vegetable. It completes its life cycle in about 90 days and tolerates a wide range of conditions, from grassland to partial shade.
Emilia sonchifolia, also known as lilac tasselflower or cupid's shaving brush, is a tropical flowering species of tasselflower in the sunflower family. It is a branching, annual herb up to 40 cm (15+1⁄2 in) tall. The leaves are lyrate-pinnatilobed, up to 10 cm (4 in) long, sometimes becoming purplish as they get old. One plant can produce several pink or purplish flower heads.
It is widespread in tropical regions around the world. Though hepatotoxic, the leaves and young shoots can be eaten as vegetables.
Emilia sonchifolia contains tumorigenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, causing hepatotoxicity.
Emilia sonchifolia is widespread in tropical regions around the world, apparently native to Asia (China, India, Southeast Asia, etc.) and naturalized in Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.
The leaves and young shoots can be eaten as vegetables, raw or cooked. For this the leaves are harvested mainly before the plant flowers.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Emilia sonchifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
