Cupid's Shaving Brush, Lilac tasselflower
Emilia sonchifolia

Family: Asteraceae or Compositae

What it is like

Emilia sonchifolia is a ANNUAL growing to 0.6 m (2ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9 and is frost tender. It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 0.6

Where it is found

Waste ground in C. and S. Japan. Moist areas and uncultivated ground at elevations up to 1700 metres in Nepal.

Tropical Asia.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Leaves and young shoots - raw or cooked. Used as a vegetable. The whole plant, including the flowers, can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are usually harvested and used before the plant flowers. A nutritional analysis of the leaves is available. The powdered plant is used to prepare a cake fermented with yeast (called marcha in Nepal) from which liquor is distilled.

Medicine

Rating: 2

A tea made from the leaves is used in the treatment of dysentery. The juice of the leaves is used in treating eye inflammations, night blindness, cuts and wounds and sore ears. The plant is astringent, depurative, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge and sudorific. It is used in the treatment of infantile tympanites and bowel complaints. The juice of the root is used in the treatment of diarrhoea. The flower heads are chewed and kept in the mouth for about 10 minutes to protect teeth from decay.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Depurative: Eliminates toxins and purifies the system, especially the blood.

Diaphoretic: Induces perspiration.

Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Expectorant: Clears phlegm from the chest by inducing coughing.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Odontalgic: Treats toothache (temporary measure only) and other problems of the teeth and gums.

Ophthalmic: Treats eye complaints.

Other

Rating:

How it is grown

An easily grown plant, succeeding in most well-drained soils in a sunny position. Plants flower better when growing on nutritionally poor soils, producing much lusher growth on rich soils. Plants are drought tolerant once established. Plants are not frost hardy, but they succeed outdoors in Britain as a spring-sown annual. Slugs can be a problem with this plant in a wet spring. The leaves are frequently sold in local markets in Java.

Propagating it: Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out after the last expected frosts. The seed can also be sown outdoors in situ in the middle of spring.

Best place to grow: Cultivated Beds;

Habit: Annual

Hardiness: 8-11

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Cacalia sonchifolia.