Unknown edible from market in Aizawl, Mizaram, India

[Stephenb]

I was given this plant which was bought as an edible from a market in Aizawl, Mizaram, India. It doesn't look as though it will flower and I'm still puzzled as to what it can be. Anyone recognise it?

[Graham Catlow]

Hi Stephen,
It looks remarkably like Himalayan balsam, Impatiens glandulifera to me. Which is a very invasive weed.

[majallison]

I know it's not good to attempt identifications just with leaves, but it looks like a Labiatae, a bit like Perilla or some kind of Salvia. Does the plant have a scent?

[Stephenb]

It's definitely not Himalayan Balsam - it's perennial - overwintered indoors.

No scent. Not Perilla which I also grow (annual) but I see the similarity ,so Labiatae is a possibility.

[Afloden]

Chromolaena odorata? It definitely has the look of a lot of those Eupatorium-esque plants; Fleischmania, Ageratina, Eupatorium.

[Stephenb]

Thanks. No, I don't think it's chromolaena - haven't found that that one has been used as a food plant either..

Guess I'll just have to wait for it to flower.....

[Stephenb]

Now in flower! Ring any bells?

[Ezeiza]

An Eupatorium?

[Oron Peri]

An Eupatorium?

Yes it is.

Ageratina altissima [syn Eupatorium rugosum]

[Maggi Young]

Hardly an "edible" then? Are not  Eupatoriums  poisonous?  Dangerous even in old mnedicinal use, I thought, and certianly poisonous to livestock?

[Stephenb]

Yes, thanks to both of you! Yes, not something even I would dine on Maggi! Luckily, I didn't! Perhaps it was being sold as a medicinal? I'll pass on the ID to the guy I got it from!

S.

[Afloden]

Still sticking with Chromolaena, especially if its in flower now. Ageratina won't flower for a month or more and the leaf base is not right nor the leaf serration.

[Stephenb]

Thanks, Aaron - will have a  look at the key in Flora of North America...

Just a comment that my plant was overwintered indoors which may explain early flowering, as might our long days up here in the north? I had the plant out in the garden last summer, it became a big plant with no flowering but didn't survive the winter outside .

[Afloden]

 Ageratina altissima should survive your winter with no problem (hardy for me to -30F dry or wet) which further convinces me that it is Chromolaena. Chromolaena was in full leaf while in Vietnam last fall and apparently decides to flower in December-March. No sign of flowers while there.