Problems from an Insurgence of Spurge

•  Young plants only a few weeks old generate seeds.

•  A plant can form 12,500 seeds that remain viable for decades, that stick when wet, and that emit an oil to attract ants who store and protect seeds.

•  Once it evades notice, blooms, sets seed, and starts to spread, it becomes omnipresent.

•  It hosts citrus plant diseases and a fungus, Uromyces striatus, that parasitizes legumes.

•  It thrives in the presence of an anaerobic bacteria, Glomus constrictum, that it also attracts. This bacteria kills the nitrogen-fixing beneficial, Rhizobium bacteria, and thereby unbalances the soil and works as an “allelopath”, or inhibits the growth of nearby lawn and cultivars.

•  All parts emit a toxic milky sap. Its close resemblance to Purslane, a benign non-Euphorbia, may present foragers who mistake it with the risk of poisoning. Plant parts that mix with processed crops can cause gastrointestinal distress in livestock that graze upon it. Its toxins may irritate human skin, eyes and mouths, when handled, so wear gloves to remove it.

But both provide nectar and seeds for birds and insects. More importantly, they create a rapid ground cover in disturbed soils, especially in the types of soil most prone to erosion, namely undernourished, dry, hot, airless, compacted areas that might otherwise wash or blow away. Its mats have a certain pinkish delicacy and proportion, though, like many a weed, its tiny flowers are barely visible.

Remove them as soon as you see them, since their allelopathic, lingering, anaerobic population drains the soil of nitrogen and thwarts nearby lawns and other cultivars. A densely planted healthy competitive bed of robust plants in fertile soil slows it down best.

I first spotted Eclipta, Eclipta prostrata, as it sprawled at the edge of a slightly over-irrigated Rose bed and wondered what it was. It didn’t look familiar, but it looked like it might have some sort of flower. Alas, when the flower bloomed, it was visible only to the camera and not my naked eye. The foliage overwhelmed the flowers. Then I noticed it as it spread to inhospitable terrain, like the decomposed granite pathways. Again, I found it’s name and its fame as a spreading worldwide weed.

I also found much praise for this little edible herb from the herbalists, especially in India and Southeast Asia. It’s reputed to have medicinal effectiveness as: a liver tonic treatment of hepatitis and cirrhosis, for athlete’s foot, dermatitis, and skin wounds, as anti-venom against snakebite and scorpion stings. Leaves mixed with oil are used for hair growth, to dye grey hair black and for tattoos. You can easily mail order its seeds for herbal uses. I prefer to use prescriptions.

Left: Eclipta sprawls at the edge of a flower bed Right: with small flowers and seedheads that form simultaneously