Lilac Tasselflower
Emilia sonchifolia
Asteraceae
Medicinal. Also reported to be edible.
Lilac tasselflower is an erect (15–90 cm high) annual herb with purple coloured flowers. Flower colour is variable, with scarlet, red, pink, orange, white or lilac colours reported. Leaf shape is also variable, ranging from lyrate-pinnatisect or ovate, while leaf size ranges from 1.5–14 cm long and 0.8–6 cm wide. Liliac tasselflower is a common weed of crops, pastures, orchards, gardens, roadsides, footpaths, parks, nurseries, lawns, disturbed sites and waste areas. Self and cross pollination is reported, with bees and flies the main pollinators. The fruit have structures that facilitates wind-dispersal. Seeds can also be dispersed by water, contaminant in crop and pasture seeds, on soil, vehicles and agricultural machinery. It tolerates a range of soil types and conditions.
Lilac tasselflower is an alternative host for a number of crop pathogens, some of which include Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli, Peanut Witches Broom Phytoplasma, and yellow spot virus of pineapple. It is also a host for a nematode, Rotylenchulus reniformis and an insect pest of onions Liriomyza huidobrensis. Thrips use this plant as breeding and feeding sites It is also a host for Aphis middletonii (Erigeron Root Aphid). Other organisms associated with Lilac tasselflower include Septoria emiliae, Puccinia cnici-oleracei (rust), p. emiliae (rust), p. melampodii (rust), p. synedrellae (rust), Synchytrium fuscum (false rust or wart disease), Aecidium formosanum (rust) and Lipaleyrodes emiliae (Whitefly). According to one source, it is a good butterfly nectar plant, and the larvae of the moth Nyctemera baulus have been found feeding on it. Another source states that bees and butterflies are attracted to this plant.