GIANT MEXICAN SUNFLOWER

Giant Mexican Sunflower is an impressive member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Tithonia was named for Tithonus, a legendary Trojan loved by the dawn goddess Eos, who turned him into a grasshopper. Giant Mexican Sunflower is a perennial native of Mexico and Central America and is naturalized in India. It is a tall shrub, 1-3 m high. Stem is stout, erect, densely hairy. Alternately arranged broadly ovate leaves (lobed or simple) are 15-25 cm long. Large single flower-heads are orange-yellow, 10-15 cm across. In Manipur, flower-heads are used for wounds and bruises.

COLTSFOOT

Coltsfoot is a perennial herb propagating by seeds and rhizomes. It is often found in colonies of dozens of plants. The flowers, which superficially resemble dandelions, appear in early spring before dandelions appear. The leaves, which resemble a colt’s foot in cross section, do not appear usually until after the seeds are set. Thus, the flowers appear on stems with no apparent leaves, and the later appearing leaves then wither and die during the season without seeming to set flowers. The plant is typically 10-30 cm tall. Coltsfoot is found in the Himalayas at altitudes of 2800-3800 m.

Medicinal uses: Coltsfoot has been used medicinally as a cough suppressant. The name tussilagoitself means “cough suppressant.” The plant has been used historically to treat lung ailments such as asthma as well as various coughs by way of smoking. Crushed flowers supposedly cured skin conditions, and the plant has been consumed as a food product.

CHINESE WEDELIA

Chinese Wedelia is a tender, spreading, and hairy herb, with the branches usually less than 50 cm long. The leaves are oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2-4.5 cm in length, and narrowed at both ends. The margins are entire or obscurely toothed; and both surfaces are covered with sharp-pointed, appressed, straight, and stiff hairs. The heads are stalked, about 1 cm in diameter, and yellow. The involucral bracts are oblong-ovate. The ray flowers are 8-12, spreading, about equal to the bracts, and broad; the disk flowers number about 20, and are short, narrow, and pointed. The achenes are nearly cylindric, and hairy.

Medicinal uses: The leaves are used in dyeing grey hair and in promoting the growth of hair. They are considered tonic, alternative, and useful in coughs, cephalalgia, skin diseases, and alopecia. The juice of the leaves is much used as a snuff in cephalalgia. The seeds and flowers, as well as the leaves, are used in decoction, in the quantity of half of teacupful twice daily, as a deobstruent. In decoction, the plant is used in uterine haemorrhage and menorrhagia.

YELLOW DOTS

Yellow Dots is native to the northern part of South America and the West Indies. It is a creeping evergreen perennial that roots at the leaf nodes and spreads widely. The leaves are ovate and usually 3 lobed. The flower is a yellow daisy-like flower that is approximately 1 inch across. Plant creeps and roots at nodes, making a dense ground cover, as well as a great hanging basket. It grows well under trees but it will not tolerate wet soils.

Medicinal uses: In Suriname’s traditional medicine, wedelia is used to treat hepatitis, infections and to clear the placenta after birth.