Common Name:

General Information

Austroeupatorium inulifolium is a strongly branched shrub that can grow from 2 - 6 metres tall[]. It sometimes adopts a more scrambling habit and climbs into surrounding vegetation[].
The plant is grown as a hedge, ground cover and soil stabilizer. However, in view of its ability to escape from cultivation and invade native habitats, it would be best to restrict use of this plant to its native range[].

Known Hazards

The plant is reported to contain pyrrolizidine, a probably hepatotoxic alkaloid causing death in cattle in Sumatra[].
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids have a cumulative effect upon the body and, unless concentrations in a plant are high, occasional use is generally completely safe. They are derived from amino acids including ornithine. Many pyrrolizidine alkaloids have pronounced hepatic toxicity, but the lungs and other organs may be affected as well. Mutagenic and carcinogenic activities of pyrrolizidine alkaloids have also been reported[].

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana; C. America - Panama.

Habitat

Plants can be found in a diversity of habitats, including savannahs, swamps, forest borders, disturbed forests and other disturbed areas, plantations and amongst perennial crops; at elevations uu to 2,100 metres[, ].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	3.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated

Cultivation Details

Prefers a moist soil[].
The plant is an aggressive species that rapidly colonizes areas cleared for planting new crops, agricultural fields, fallow fields, waste lands and roadsides[]. It is a serious weed in the Philippines, where it forms very dense thickets in rubber, tea and rosella plantations, upland rice plantations and in clearings in secondary forest[].
Plants can flower all year round[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant responds well to trimmimg and can be grown as a hedge[].
The plant is planted along slopes in order to stabilize the soil and prevent erosion[]. It suppresses Imperata grass and can be used as a ground cover in Pinus merkusii, cinchona and tea plantations[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cuttings.

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