Galinsoga quadriradiata

Galinsoga quadriradiata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae which is known by several common names, including shaggy soldier, Peruvian daisy, hairy galinsoga. Its native home is apparently central Mexico, although it has become naturalized in many other places.

Description

Shaggy soldier is an annual herb about 25 cm tall and opposite leaves. It is so highly branched that it produces two side shoots at just about every node. The stems, leaves and bracts are all sparsely to densely hairy, with a mixture of glandular and simple hairs. The lower leaves are ovate and about 5 cm long and toothed, while the upper ones are smaller and more lanceolate. They all have petioles about 1 cm long and lack stipules.
A typical plant will produce numerous flower heads, arranged in threes with 2 cm long peduncles at the tip of every branch. Each flower head is around 5 mm across and contains about 25 tiny yellow disc florets with five lobes at the ends, and five widely-spaced, larger, petal-like, white ray florets with 2 or 3 crenate teeth. Both the disc and ray florets are fertile, but the disc florets are bisexual while the ray florets are female.

Identification

Shaggy soldier is usually a hairy plant, whereas the otherwise similar gallant soldier tends to be more-or-less hairless, but these characters are insufficient for accurate identification. To be confident, it is important to check that shaggy soldier has simple scales on the receptacle, and scales in the pappus with hairy margins and a long, thin point at the top.

Uses

Galinsoga quadriradiata and its cousin Galinsoga parviflora are both edible and can be used as a pot herb or in salads, although outside of their native range they have not been widely adopted as a culinary item other than in China. G. parviflora is preferred as a salad green due to its non-hairy leaves. If you happen to live in a tropical region, care must be taken to not confuse them with the distantly related, and visually similar, Tridax procumbens.