Monara Kudumbiya Vernonia cinerea

Common name - Monara Kudumbiya

Botanical name - Vernonia cinerea

Family              - Asteraceae

Life cycle - Annual

Morphology

• Erect or decumbent annual herbs, (5- ) 15-30 cm tall, occasionally up o 1.5 m tall. 
• Stems oppressed pubescent. 
• Leaves ovate, petioles 0.5-1.5 cm long, laminae 2-5 x 1-2 cm. Capitula few, (3-10) or numerousin terminal corymbs. Involucre 3-4 mm long, 2-3 diameter.
• Flowers 20-35 per capitulum; corollas 3-4 mm long, bluish mauve, rarely white.
• Fruit Achenes dark brown or blakish. Pappus whitish, 3-4.5 mm long.

Propagation 

• By Seeds

Agricultural usage/ importance 

• Weed in in plantations of perennial crops like rubber, tea plantations.
• Alternate host for nematodes
• Used medicinally for Fever, Oedema, Pains ,Urinary calculus, Hemorrhoids

Control method

• Chemical, 2, 4 D at 0.5 to 0.8kg/ha or MCPA at 0.4 kg/ha applied within 20-30 days after emergence