Emilia sonchifolia (L.) DC.

Lilac Tassel Flower

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Lilac Tassel Flower is an introduced annual in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It is native to tropical areas of Asia. In Alabama in can be found in the southern half of the state. Lilac Tassel Flower occurs in pots with nursery plants, in flower beds, around parking lots, and in other disturbed areas. It is an annual with a tap root. The stems are 1-2 feet in height, simple or branched, green or purplish in color, and glabrous or pubescent. Leaves are alternate, the lower petiolate with winged petioles and the upper sessile with auriculate clasping bases. The blades are ovate to oblanceolate or obovate in outline, and glabrous or with a few scattered hairs. Leaf margins are coarsely toothed or deeply lobed and lyrate-pinnatifid. The flowers are produced in heads. The heads are arranged in 3-6 flowered corymbs. The heads contain 15-30 pink, purple or lilac disc flowers and no ray flowers. The fruit is a 5-ribbed achene with a tuff of barbellate white bristles. Lilac Tassel Flower is listed in the Global Compendium of Weeds, and is a host of the bacteria Xanthomonas campetris, which causes a leaf spot infection in beans.—A. Diamond

**

Not Native

**