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ShrubWildPerennialMedicinal

Aerva javanica (Burm. f.) Juss. ex Schult.

Bui
Synonyms: Iresine javanica Burm.f.; Achyranthes javanica (Burm.f.) Pers. (Plants of the World Online)

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Description

Aerva javanica is an erect to spreading perennial herb or suffruticose shrub, usually 30–150 cm tall, densely branched from the base and covered with a characteristic white to yellowish woolly tomentum. Stems are terete, striate, and densely pubescent, giving the plant a silvery-white appearance. Leaves are alternate, sessile or shortly petiolate, narrowly linear to elliptic, obovate, or suborbicular, with entire margins and densely woolly surfaces, particularly beneath. Flowers are small, unisexual, and arranged in dense, cylindrical or interrupted terminal and axillary spikes. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants (dioecious). The perianth consists of five scarious, woolly tepals, white to creamy-white in colour. Fruits are small, compressed capsules enclosed within the persistent perianth, each containing a single, smooth, glossy, black seed. (World Flora Online)

Diagnostic Characters

Vegetative
Erect, densely branched shrublet with silvery-white woolly stems and leaves.
Floral
Small white, dioecious flowers arranged in dense cylindrical or interrupted spikes.
Fruit & Seed
Small compressed capsules enclosed by persistent woolly tepals, containing a single glossy black seed.

Distribution

Native range: Widely distributed from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula through South Asia to Myanmar. (Plants of the World Online).

Introduced range: Occasionally naturalized outside its native range, including parts of Australia. (Plants of the World Online).

In Pakistan: Common in the arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan, and the Salt Range, extending into desert ecosystems such as the Thal and Cholistan.

Phenology

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Flowering
Fruiting
Flowering: Throughout most of the year, with peak flowering from July to November Fruiting: August to December

Ethnobotany & Uses

Traditional Medicine
Used in traditional medicine as a diuretic, wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, and expectorant. The leaves and roots are employed for treating skin infections, fever, and digestive disorders in various indigenous medicinal systems.
Other Uses
The silky woolly inflorescences are occasionally used as stuffing material for pillows and cushions. The plant also serves as valuable forage for camels, sheep, and goats in arid regions and contributes to the stabilization of sandy soils. Several studies have reported antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of its extracts.
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Where it grows on campus

This species is on the campus floristic list but was not pinned during the GPS mapping survey, so it has no map records yet.

Taxonomic Notes

Aerva javanica is one of the most characteristic xerophytic members of the Amaranthaceae in Pakistan. It is readily recognized by its dense silvery-white woolly indumentum, dioecious spikes, and adaptation to desert habitats. The species exhibits considerable variation in leaf shape and spike morphology across its wide geographical range but is treated as a single, variable species in current taxonomic treatments. (World Flora Online).