Chromolaena odorata
Family: Asteraceae
Description: Perennial with sprawling or often somewhat climbing stems to 120 cm or longer. Leaves mostly lanceolate, 2-9 cm long. Heads in corymbs, discoid 10-12 mm high. Corolla light blue-violet. White to tubular blooms in dense panicles of 10–35 flowers at branch tips. Fragrant and attractive. Soft upper stems, woody base; hairy and glandular.
Field Identification:
Plant Trivia: Despite its weed status, it is valued in traditional healing systems and soil stabilization projects.
Occurrence: Occurs on various soils in thickets, mottes, and low woods, or sometimes in openings. Native to the southern United States (Florida and Texas) through Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and into South America (including Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela). It has been introduced to tropical Asia, West Africa, parts of Australia, and the Pacific islands.
Bloom Period: Sept-Nov
Plant Use: Grown for its foliage and flowers. Nitrogen-fixing associations, green manure, mulch, and pioneer species in reforestation. Leaves crushed into a paste for wound healing, blood clotting, and infection prevention; used in West Africa and Southeast Asia for antibiotic, antimalarial, and febrifuge effects. The most potent and promising components of plants are their secondary metabolites, which humans rely on. The phytochemical components of C. odorata, including flavonoids, alkaloids, anthraquinones, tannins, cardiac glycosides, saponins, and terpenoids have been identified through chemical analysis. This plant has been traditionally used for coughs, colds, toothache, dysentery, stomach aches, sore throat, convulsions, piles, wound healing, antiseptic, and various skin conditions. Additionally, C. odorata essential oil was also reported to have antimicrobial, insecticidal properties, allelopathic effects, ovicide & larvicidal effects, and livestock death. C. odorata has many pharmacological activities such as anthelmintics, antidyslipidemia, antidiabetics, antitumor, antiglycation, antihyperglycemic, anticancer, antioxidative, haemostatic, antidiarrheal, hepatoprotective, antifibrillogenic, analgesic, antiulcer, antihypertensive, diuretic, and antibiofilm activities. In India, China, and Thailand C. odorata is used as traditional medicine to treat wound and burn. In India, 45,000 different types of plants can be found, and roughly 15,000 have medicinal use. However, communities traditionally use only 7000 to 7500 plants for therapeutic purposes. The Siddha system utilizes around 600, Ayurveda 700, and Unani 700 to treat various human and animal illnesses. Fresh crushed leaves of C. odorata are traditionally applied to newly cut wounds in some communities in African to aid in healing and used to treat numerous inflammatory diseases in Philippines. The herb is used to ease coughs, colds, toothache, in traditional medicines and the fresh leaves boiled along with lemongrass and guava leaves to treat protozoal infection. In Indonesia, the tea made from leaf decoction is used to treat vertigo, high cholesterol and hypertension. In Vietnam, an aqueous leaves extract used to treat soft tissue wounds, leech bite burns, and skin infections.
Propagation: Rapid colonizer, capable of regenerating from roots and producing seeds.
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