Erect little - branched herb to 1 m tall , smooth or finely hairy . Leaves with lamina elliptic to ovate in outline ; lowest leaves lyrate - pinnately cut , up to 20 cm long and 10 cm wide , base often with a pair of stipule - like lobes , margins coarsely toothed ; upper leaves smaller , not lobed or with a lobe each side towards base ; petiole up to 4 cm long . Heads in cymes , few to many , nodding at first , later erect . Flowerheads are cylindrical , green , with red florets visible on top . Seeds are floating balls of numerous silky white hair .

English - Fireweed

Hindi - Lal phulnu ghaa

Malayalam - Appuppanthadi

Tamil - Appobandadi

Kannada - Jumaki gida

* They are rich in nutrients and minerals .

* They are very good source of vitamin C (Adjatin et al., 2013)

* It has antibiotic , anti helminthic , anti - inflammatory , antidiabetic , anti - malarial activity (Gill et al., 2010)

* It possess pharmacological properties intervening in the prevention and the treatment of several human pathologies such as hypertension , headaches , breast cancer (Aniya et al., 2002)

* Leaves are used to treat stomachache and indigestion .