Balunaguta Stachytarpheta indica

Common name : Balunaguta

Botanical name : Stachytarpheta indica

Family : Verbinaceae

Life cycle : Annual

Morphological characteristics 

• Stem & roots -Herbaceous plant, grows up to 0.5 – 0.75 m height.Terrestrial, annual or perennial, erect sub shrub, up to 200 cm tall. Taproot white or brown. 
• Inflorescence – Apical spike, bush color. Flower is purple color, bisexual, grouped together in a terminal spike, sessile, petals 5, blue, with white throat
• Fruit - A nut
• Leaves- elliptic leaf consists with serrated margin and decussate leaf arrangement. Leaves simple, not lobed or divided, opposite, stalked, elliptic or ovate, more than 2 cm long/wide, usually airy on both sides, margin coarsely dentate, apex acute or obtuse, base obtuse our rounded, pinnately veined.

Agricultural importance

• Compete with crops for nutrition, water and solar radiation. A weed of minor importance in rice fields, but may become a serious weed in pasture land, where it cannot be removed by mowing. 

 Propagation method 

•  seeds

Habitat 

•  A common weed in pastures and cultivated areas

Control methods 

• Hand weeding 2 to 3 times during the cropping season is effective in controlling the weed.
• Mechanical methods. 
• Chemical control : Foliar spraying with 2,4-D.