Wild Edibles – the power foods

An extremely useful plant – Gallant Soldier

 Galinsoga parviflora is a herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae (daisy) family. It has several common names including Guasca (Colombia), Mielcilla (Costa Rica), Galinsoga (NZ), gallant soldier^[2] (USA).

Galinsoga parviflora was brought from Peru to Kew Gardens in 1796, and later escaped to the wild in Britain. In Britain its name Galinsoga is sometimes popularly rendered as “gallant soldiers”, and then sometimes altered to “soldiers of the Queen”. In Germany it is called Franzosenkraut.

Gallant Soldier (Galinsoga parviflora) is an ANNUAL growing to 0.6 m (2ft). It is in flower from May to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects, self.The plant is self-fertile.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils..It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.It requires moist soil.

In Colombia it is used as a spice herb in the soup Ajiaco. It can also be used as an ingredient in leaf salads. In much of the world it is considered a weed.

Treatment

Galinsoga is extremely effective in treatment of wounds. The juice of galinsoga helps blood to coagulate faster and also acts as an antibiotic agent. Some people claim that usage of galinsoga helps wounds heal faster. Even though galinsoga is considered a weed, it is an extremely useful herb.

You can eat the leaves. It has it’s own flavor. I like it. It is full of iron, too.

Source: www.pfaf.org, www.wikipedia.com