Apamarg Panchang - Latjira - Chirchita - Latjeera - Achyranthes Aspera

Achyranthens Aspera is a tall, many-branched, spreading, quadrangular herb that lives for a long time.

The plant may grow up to 7 feet tall and is also known as chaff flower, prickly chaff flower, and devil's horsewhip.

The plant and all of its parts, including the root, seeds, leaves, roots, flowers, and fruits, have been utilised for medicinal purposes; on Ganesh Chaturthi, 21 Achyranthens Aspera leaves are usually used in Ganesh Patra puja.

The leaves of Achyranthens Aspera are simple, hairy, and short stalked.

The leaves are yellowish below and green above, and they grow on a sharp-pointed wooden stem.

The leaves have an egg-shaped pointed apex and are 8 to 10 cm long and 7 to 8 cm wide.

Achyranthens Aspera bears little green/yellowish-white flowers on slender, long spikes up to 60 cm long.

The bracts around the flowers develop sharp, pointed tips during the fruiting stage, making the heads spiky to the touch, and the fruits are orange to reddish-purple or straw-brown capsules.

Achyranthens Aspera Morphology

Flowering all year, it produces yellow, green/white blooms with long, axillary spikes.
Long, axillary spikes of yellowish-white colour.
It blooms throughout the year.
Fruit-The fruit quickly sticks to clothing and animal skin.
It has a solitary seed that yields fruit throughout the year.
The stem bears hairy nodes and longitudinal ridges/grooves.

Achyranthens Aspera Sources

Achyranthens Aspera is primarily found in tropical Asia, Africa, and other warmer climes.
It is also found in Australia, the United States, Ceylon, and Baluchistan.
In India, it primarily grows as a weed along roadsides.

The plant and seeds of Achyranthes Aspera are strong in carbs, proteins, and bioactive compounds like flavonoids, tannins, and saponins, all of which help to maintain general health.