Common name: Asiatic Witchweed • Marathi: पिवला आग्या Pivla agya • Tamil: Pallipoondu, kollaippalli, Chirakachitam, Chirakacitappuntu • Malayalam: Kalu-polapen • Telugu: Rathi badamika • Kannada: bili kasa, jolada baeru maari
Botanical name: Striga asiatica Family: Scrophulariaceae (Dog flower family) Synonyms: Striga lutea
Asiatic Witchweed is a coarse annual herb, growing to 10-20 cm tall. Stems
are erect, rarely branched. Leaf are small, linear to narrowly
lanceshaped, 5-20 mm long, 1-4 mm wide, sometimes reduced to scales.
Flowers arise singly or in a spike in leaf axils. Sepal cup is 4-8 mm,
10-ribbed. Sepals are 5, as long as tube. Flowers are usually yellow,
rarely red or white, with a 0.8-1.5 cm long tube, and 2-lipped. Upper lip
is 2-lobed. Capsule is ovoid, enveloped in surviving sepals. This species
is harmful to crops, particularly to sugar cane.
Flowering: September-October.
Medicinal uses: The whole plant is used for treating intestinal
parasites.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale
| Photographed at Khandala, Maharashtra. |
|