Galinsoga

Poaceae

LIFE FORM: Summer annual

NATIVITY: Centeral America

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

Can grow to 2 feet tall; much branched and covered with coarse hairs; opposite leaves are triangular in shape and coarsely toothed.

FLOWERS:

Quarter inch wide, five-petalled, white flowers produced from June through October.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Self-sows readily and spreads rapidly on bare soil.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

Grows best in full sun and fertile soil. Prefers neglected residential and commercial landscapes; minimally maintained public parks and open space; vacant lots and rubble dump sites.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Disturbance-adapted colonizer.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Can produce several generations of plants in a single season; foliage is edible.