Fleabane
Conyza aegyptiaca

Family: Asteraceae

What it is like

An erect annual herb. It has brittle, rather stiff, stems. There are few branches. It grows to 50-100 cm high. It has white hairs over all plant parts. The leaves do not have leaf stalks. They are long and narrow, and divided into lobes along its length. There are teeth around the edges of the leaf. The flower heads are at the top of the plant, and they are about 1 cm across. There is a ring of bracts around the base of this flower arrangement. The flowers around the edges are male, and the flowers nearer the centre are of both sexes. The fruit are about 1 mm long. They are flattened and light brown. There are long white hairs on the seed.

There are about 50 Conyza species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in wet grassland savannah. In Papua New Guinea plants occur between 1,200 and 3,000 m altitude.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia, Australia, Botswana, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Egypt, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Myanmar, North Africa, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The leaves have been recorded as eaten.

It is not known if they are eaten in Papua New Guinea.

Edible parts

Leaves, vegetable

How it is grown

It is mostly self sown from seed.

Its other names

Local names

Kelivoloina

Synonyms

Erigeron aegyptiacum L.