Emilia sonchifolia

Emilia sonchifolia, also known as lilac tasselflower or cupid's shaving brush is tropical flowering species of tasselflower and in the sunflower family. It is widespread in tropical regions around the world, apparently native to Asia (China, India, Southeast Asia, etc.) and naturalized in Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Emilia sonchifolia is a branching, perennial herb up to 40 cm (15.5 in) tall. Leaves are lyrate-pinnatilobed, up to 10 cm (4 in) long, sometimes becoming purplish as they get old. One plant can produce several pink or purplish flower heads. Emilia sonchifolia is an annual herb. The plant is erect and sparingly hairy, soft-stemmed, and grows to 20 to 70 cm high with a branch tap root. The leave pattern is alternate with winged petioles. Leaves on the lower end of the stem are round/oval shape, 4 to 16 cm in height and 1 to 8 cm in width. The leaves on the upper end of the stem are smaller than the leaves on the lower end of the stem, and are often coarsely toothed. The inflorescence is often dichotomous with 3 to 6 stalked flower heads and whorl bracts beneath. The urn-shaped flower head has 30-60 florets per head, the outer ray florets are female and the inner disc florets bisexual (with both stamens and stigmas). 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 up to 8 mm long, and exhibits dry indehiscent properties. Emilia sonchifolia completes its life cycle in ~90 days. There are two types of seed, which are defined by the color of the achene. The first, a female outer circle of florets of a flower head produces red and brown achenes. The second is the inner, off-white hermaphrodite florets. Most seeds germinate at 27 °C but those that develop from outer florets germinate under deep shade. Plants only emerge from seeds near the surface, however, some seed can germinate (4%) while buried deep (4 cm). A study, states 29% of seeds germinated when placed at 0.5 cm below the soil, while only 3% germinated when buried 1 cm. The seed carries a pappus of hairs, indicating the use of wind as a dispersal agent. Emilia sonchifolia is commonly reported as a weed crop. In most areas, it is reported as noninvasive, however, in some cotton producing areas, it is classified as the most problematic weeds. It has certain effects on individual crops, such as decreases in weight of lettuce(by 70%) and mustard cabbage(by 30%), and a decreased yield of tomato fruit by 18%. The pathogens associated with Emilia sonchifolia also have effects of certain crops. Emilia sonchifolia is a host of Xanthomonas campetris, which causes a bacterial infection in beans in Brazil and Cuba.