''Cyanthillium cinereum'' (also known as little ironweed and poovamkurunnal or poovamkurunnila in Malayalam, and monara kudumbiya in Sinhalese) is a species of perennial plants in the sunflower family. The species is native to tropical Africa and to tropical Asia ( India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Indonesia, etc.) and has become naturalized in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Mesoamerica, tropical South America, the West Indies, and the US State of Florida.Flora of North America, ''Cyanthillium cinereum'' (Linnaeus) H. Robinson
/ref> ''Cyanthillium cinereum'' is an annual herb up to 120 cm (4 feet) tall. It produces flat-topped arrays of numerous

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

, each with pinkish or purplish disc florets but no ray florets. The species can be confused with ''

Emilia sonchifolia ''Emilia sonchifolia'', also known as lilac tasselflower or cupid's shaving brush, is tropical flowering species of tasselflower in the sunflower family. It is widespread in tropical regions around the world, apparently native to Asia (China, I ...

'', but the flower bracts of the latter are much longer and vase-shaped. ''Cyanthillium cinereum'' has been used for smoking cessation in Thailand and other countries, and as relief for the

common cold The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...

. It used to be called ''Vernonia cinerea'', but apparently there was a taxonomic update, sometime prior to early 2014.

References

External links

Global Information Hub on Integrated Medicine
cinereum Flora of Asia Flora of Africa Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Asteraceae-stub