Published via Ecency

Latin Name	Observation Date	Location
*Euphorbia hirta*	August 27, 2026	Natore, Bangladesh

One of my hobbies is to discover the diverse flora and fauna found in nature. Being an agronomist by profession, I am always a little interested in the health of the soil and the environment around the crops. Recently, while roaming in the field, I came across a familiar medicinal plant growing carelessly on the side of the road. Many people know this plant by various names, such as 'asthma-plant', 'garden spurge', 'hairy spurge', etc. In the Philippines, it is well known as 'tawa-tawa'.

Scientific name:
This medicinal plant has a specific scientific name. In 1753, scientist Carl Linnaeus first named it Euphorbia hirta. Although it has no recognized variety, it has about 33 synonyms or synonyms.
Family Genus:
According to the scientific classification of biology, it belongs to the kingdom Plantae. It is a member of the Euphorbiaceae family and its scientific genus is Euphorbia.

Native and Habitat:
Although this plant is originally native to the tropical regions of the Americas, it has now spread throughout the world as a pantropical weed. It usually grows and grows easily in open pastures, roadsides, and along walkways.

Physical structure:
It is an annual herbaceous plant, which can grow up to about 60 centimeters (24 inches) tall. Its stem is quite stiff and has yellow to reddish rough hairs. The leaves of the plant are quite simple, somewhat elliptical, and have hairs on both surfaces. When the stem or leaf is broken, a large amount of white latex or latex comes out from inside.

Reproduction:
They reproduce mainly through seeds. Small flowers are borne in clusters at the junction of the leaves and stems. Its fruits are like small capsules, inside which there are small square-shaped seeds ranging from orange to pink or red. When they fall to the ground, new plants grow from these seeds.

Benefits:
Although it is known as a weed, it has some great uses in traditional herbal medicine. It is widely used in various cultures to treat asthma, various skin problems, and high blood pressure. Especially in the Philippines, herbal tea from the leaves of this plant is very popular as a folk medicine to reduce the incidence of dengue fever and malaria.

Disadvantages:
Since it is basically a fast-growing weed, if it grows excessively in crop fields, it can compete with the main crop for light, air, and soil nutrients. However, due to its extraordinary medicinal properties, it is not less valuable even though it is a weed.

I hope you like the information.

I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.

_{*(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.) *}

Camera Used	Samsung SM-G973F
F-Stop	F2.4
ISO speed	ISO
Focal length	26mm
Flash	No
Editing app	Lightroom
Photography	(Euphorbia hirta)
Photographer	@mshbd
Location	Natore, Bangladesh