Achyranthes aspera (Burweed, Chirchita)

Grootklits, Langklitskafblom [Afrikaans]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Core Eudicots > Order: Caryophyllales > Family: Amaranthaceae > Subfamily: Amaranthoideae

A declared Category 1 weed in South Africa. However, in India it is used as a medicinal plant in the treatment of vomiting, bronchitis, heart disease, piles, itching abdominal pains, ascites (abnormal accumulation of fluid in the abdomen), dyspepsia (painful, disturbed digestion), dysentery (inflamation of lower intestinal tract usually from infection, resulting in fever and diarrhea) and blood diseases.

Text by Hamish Robertson