Common Name:

General Information

Ageratina riparia is an erect or sprawling, perennial plant growing 50 - 100cm tall. The plant produces creeping stems that root at the nodes, the plant forming a dense mat of interwoven stems[, ].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use. It is grown as a green manure and soil stabilizer, and is widely grown as an ornamental plant.

Known Hazards

The plant is suspected of causing mortality in horses feeding on it in southern Queensland. It is said to cause lung lesions, resulting in chronic eosinophilic bronchiolitis[].

Botanical References

Range

Southern N. America - southern Mexico.

Habitat

Naturalized in SE Asia in shaded, humid locations, along watercourses and field boundaries, on slopes, in tea plantations and forest clearings[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.75 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant is damaged by frost[].
Tolerant of shade[].
The plant is often grown as an ornamental. It frequently escapes from cultivation and has become naturalized in many parts of the world. It can form dense, quasi monospecific stands which crowd out native plants, limiting their regeneration[]. It has been declared a 'noxious weed' in parts of N. America, and is a troublesome weed in Java, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Australia and Hawaii[]. Each plant may produce up to 100,000 seeds per year, these seeds are very light and easily dispersed by the wind - 75% of fresh seed may germinate within a week. Germination is promoted by light and inhibited by burial. In some wet highland areas the plant has spread into pastures and reduced their carrying capacity considerably[, ]
The plant has allelopathic effects on crops with chemicals from the leaf-litter suppressing the growth of other plants[]. It is difficult to kill using herbicides only, but it can be controlled by brushing, followed by spraying with a herbicide, burning the area and sowing a leguminous cover crop[]. Biological control using white smut (Entyloma ageratinae) has been effective at elevations of 500 - 2,000 metres in Hawaii[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The plant has strong antifungal properties[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is used as green material for composting, and also as a cover crop to check erosion on slopes and terrace walls and also check the spread of the noxious weed Imperata cylindrica[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown on the surface and not allowed to dry out. Germination is reduced if the seed is covered by more than a very thin sprinkling of soil[].

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