Kadupahara Crassocephalum crepidioides

Common name  -    Kadupahara

Botanical name  -  Crassocephalum crepidioides

Family  - Asteraceae

Life cycle  - Annual

Morphology

• Terrestrial, annual, erect herb, up to 100 cm tall.
• Taproots white or brown. Stem rounded or grooved, solid, hairy. Stipules absent.
• Leaves simple, divided, alternate spiral, sessile or stalked, glabrous or hairy on both sides, margin coarsely dentate, apex acute, base acute, pinnately veined. 
• Flowers bisexual, grouped together in a terminal head of tubular flowers only, sessile, red or red-brown.
• Fruit an achene with pappus

Propagation 

• by seed and runners fragments, hydrochorous.

Agricultural usage/ importance 

• Eaten raw or steamed as a vegetable; used as a medicine.

Control methods 

• Post-emergence application of paraquat (older plants must be wetted well) or diuron plus surfactant. 2, 4-D at 0.5 to 0.8 kg ha-1 or MCPA at 0.4 kg ha-1 applied within 20-30 days after emergence provides good control.