''Galinsoga parviflora'' is a species of

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

in the daisy

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. It has several common names including guasca (Colombia), pacpa yuyo, paco yuyo, and waskha (Peru), burrionera (Ecuador), albahaca silvestre and saetilla (Argentina), mielcilla (Costa Rica), piojito ( Oaxaca, Mexico), galinsoga (New Zealand), gallant soldier, quickweed, and potato weed (United Kingdom, United States).

History

''Galinsoga parviflora'' was brought from

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

in 1796, and later escaped to the wild in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, being temporarily known as the 'Kew Weed'. The plant is named after the Spanish botanist Ignacio Mariano Martinez de Galinsoga. The species name parviflora''' translates to 'having small flowers'. In Britain, its name ''Galinsoga'' is sometimes popularly rendered as "gallant soldiers", and then sometimes altered to "soldiers of the Queen". In Malawi, where the plant is naturalised, it is known as 'Mwamuna aligone' which translates to 'My husband is sleeping'.

Description

''Galinsoga parviflora'' grows to a height of . It is a branched herb with opposite stalked leaves, toothed at the margins. The flowers are in small heads. The 3–8 white ray-florets are about long and 3-lobed. The central disc florets are yellow and tubular.Flora of China, ''Galinsoga parviflora'' Cavanilles, 1795. 牛膝菊 niu xi ju
/ref>

Identification

Gallant soldier is usually more-or-less

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

, whereas the otherwise similar shaggy soldier tends to be very hairy, but these characters are insufficient for accurate identification. To be confident, it is important to check (with a hand lens) that gallant soldier has three-pointed tips to the scales on the receptacle, and scales in the pappus with smooth margins and a blunt point at the top. Galinsoga parviflora var

Distribution

The species is native to South America; however, it is widely naturalized in other countries. There are a few records of ''G. parviflora'' and '' G. quadriradiata'' in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It has been naturalized elsewhere, including North America and Australasia.

Uses

In Colombia it is used as a herb in the soup '' ajiaco''.B & T World Seeds, ''Tridax parviflora (Galinsoga parviflora)'' in Profile
includes photo plus recipe for soup containing this plant as an ingredient In Oaxaca, Mexico it is used as an ingredient in '' sopa de guías'', a soup made from squash vines, fresh corn and wild herbs. It can also be used as an ingredient in leaf salads, although its subtle flavour, reminiscent of artichoke, mostly develops after being cooked. In eastern Africa, the plant is collected from the wild, and its leaves, stem and flowers eaten. It is also dried and ground into powder for use in soups.

Phytochemicals

In ''G. parviflora'', the major

phytochemical Phytochemicals are naturally-occurring chemicals present in or extracted from plants. Some phytochemicals are nutrients for the plant, while others are metabolites produced to enhance plant survivability and reproduction. The fields of ext ...

s are phenolic acids, depsides and

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s with their corresponding

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s. The flavonoids present are patulitrin, quercimeritrin, quercetagetin, luteolin 7-β-D-glucopyranoside, apigenin 7-β-D-glucoside, galinsoside A, galinsoside B, 7,3’,4’-trihydroxyflavanone and 3,5,7,3’,4’-pentahydroxyflavanone. Phenolic acids and depsides includes

vanillic acid Vanillic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid) is a dihydroxybenzoic acid derivative used as a flavoring agent. It is an oxidized form of vanillin. It is also an intermediate in the production of vanillin from ferulic acid. Occurrence in n ...

, isovanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, o-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid,

caffeic acid Caffeic acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a polyphenol with a key role in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in energy metabolism. Caffeic acid is also one major polyphenol responsible for maintaining normal le ...

, chlorogenic acid and caffeoylglucaric acids.

References

External links

Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Brazil in 1987Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Dominican Republic in 2006
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1160937 parviflora Flora of Northern America Flora of Southern America Plants described in 1796 Plants used in traditional African medicine Herbs Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles