It is classified as a weed that grows in the fields of many agriculture crops or on roadsides and gardens.

It is an annual herb up to 40 cm tall. Leaves are up to 10 cm (4 in) long, sometimes becoming purplish as they get old. One plant can produce several pink or purplish flower heads.

The plant is erect and sparingly hairy, soft-stemmed.

The inflorescence is often dichotomous, with 3 to 6 stalked flower heads. The urn-shaped flower head has 30-60 florets per head, the outer ray florets are female, and the inner disc florets are bisexual. The flower is any of a range of colors: purple, scarlet, red, pink, orange, white, or lilac. The fruit produced is oval shaped, reddish brown or off-white, has white hairs.

The seed carries a pappus of hairs, indicating the use of wind as a dispersal agent

It is a medicinal herb in Chinese, called ye xia hong (Chinese: 葉下紅). 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.

 

#EmiliaSonchifolia (𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑'𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ)

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