Species in news

Soliga tribe

In Karnataka’s Chamarajanagara district, where silver cockscomb (anne soppu), farmers of the Soliga tribe say controlling the weed can cost up to Rs 2,000 per acre (0.4 hectare) per year.

About:

• Silver cockscomb is a short-lived 50-60 cm-tall plant that bears simple, spirally arranged leaves around the stem with pinkish or silky white flowers.
• It is native to India and Africa or North and South America. 
• Medicinal use: The flowers and seed are astringent, haemostatic, ophthalmic, parasiticide and poultice. They are used in the treatment of bloody stool, haemorrhoid bleeding, uterine bleeding, leucorrhoea, dysentery and diarrhoea.
• Since it grows widely on farmlands across the country, most farmers use the plant as fodder.
• But like the Soliga tribe, some communities also consume it as a leafy vegetable.