Galinsoga parviflora is a species of herbaceous plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It has several common names including guasca (Colombia), pacpa yuyo, paco yuyo, and waskha (Peru), burrionera (Ecuador), albahaca silvestre and saetilla (Argentina), mielcilla (Costa Rica), piojito (Oaxaca, Mexico), galinsoga (New Zealand), gallant soldier, quickweed, and potato weed (United Kingdom, United States).
History
Galinsoga parviflora was brought from Peru to Kew Gardens in 1796, and later escaped to the wild in Great Britain and Ireland, being temporarily known as the 'Kew Weed'. The plant is named after the Spanish botanist Ignacio Mariano Martinez de Galinsoga. The species name 'parviflora' translates to 'having small flowers'. In Britain, its name Galinsoga is sometimes popularly rendered as "gallant soldiers", and then sometimes altered to "soldiers of the Queen". In Malawi, where the plant is naturalised, it is known as 'Mwamuna aligone' which translates to 'my husband is sleeping'.
Description
Galinsoga parviflora grows to a height of 75 cm (30 in). It is a branched herb with opposite stalked leaves, toothed at the margins. The flowers are in small heads. The 3–8 white ray-florets are about
Identification
Gallant soldier is usually more-or-less glabrous, whereas the otherwise similar shaggy soldier tends to be very hairy, but these characters are insufficient for accurate identification. To be confident, it is important to check (with a hand lens) that gallant soldier has three-pointed tips to the scales on the receptacle, and scales in the pappus with smooth margins and a blunt point at the top.
The pappus scales have smooth (not hairy) margins and a blunt tip.
