Description

Purple Sow Thistle also known as lilac tasselflower or cupid's shaving brush, is tropical flowering species of tasselflower in the sunflower family. It is widespread in tropical regions around the world, apparently native to Asia(China, India, Southeast Asia) and naturalized in Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.

Characteristics:

Purple Sow Thistle is an annual herb with a branched taproot. Stems are weak, erect or often branched at the base, smooth or sparingly hairy, 10 to 60 cm tall. This species is recognized by the sow-thistle like leaves. Lower leaves are deeply and irregularly toothed, kidney-shaped, ovate, triangular-ovate or obovate, 4-16 cm long, 1-8 cm wide with narrowly winged stalks. Upper leaves are smaller, alternately arranged, usually entire, sometimes coarsely toothed, stalkless and somewhat clasping the main stem. Inflorescence is an involucrate flower head resembling a single flower, 1.2-1.4 cm long, 4-5 mm wide, urn-shaped, long-stalked, at the end of branches. Flowering branches usually dichotomously branched with 3-6 heads, each head or capitulum a composite of numerous florets. The cup of the flower-head is green, cylindrical, somewhat inflated below. Florets are 30-60 per head, purple, scarlet, red, pink, orange, white or lilac. Purple Sow Thistle is found in the Himalayas, up to altitudes of 2100 m.

Medicinal Uses:

It is a medicinal herb in Chinese, called 'ye xia Hong'. It is one among the "Ten Sacred Flowers of Kerala State in India, collectively known as Dasapushpam. In Vietnam, it has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of fever, sore throat, diarrhea, eczema and as an antidote for snake bites. The leaves and young shoots can be used, raw or cooked. The leaves are harvested before the plant flowers. The young leaves are used as food in Java and Puerto Rico, however, in India and China, it is used medicinally.