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Parthenium hysterophorus L., parthenium, Asteraceae, is the most infamous weed in India, for about three decades. Accidentally introduced, it has invaded and dominated the waste places all over the country.
The plants bear an enormous number of small white flower heads, each containing several florets, on long much branched inflorescences (Parthenium hysterophorus1). This gregarious weed multiplies phenomenally, producing seeds by apomixis, a process that bypasses the usual sexual reproductive process. Innumerable control measures, that include chemical sprays and biological control, involving millions of rupees, have not resulted in any notable success. However, the populations have now been on the decline in a larger part of the country.
Parthenium showed allelopathic (inhibitory to other species due to toxic compounds leached from roots into the soil) effects on both the weeds and cultivated species alike, on account of the sesquiterpene lactones parthenin and conopilin, which may also be auto-allelopathic, in he long run. Parthenium has caused severe dermal allergies, through dislodged hairs and pollen, in a large number of people. Its pollen are believed to cause allergies also in the respiratory tract. This, however, was disputed.
Over shadowed by its huge nuisance value, are a few uses for parthenium. The plant is a tonic, febrifuge, emmenagogue and analgesic. Decoction of the roots is given in dysentery. The essential oils in the vegetative tissues have appreciable antimicrobial activity.
Parthenium plants were used as a medium for culturing mushrooms, along with or exclusive of paddy straw, on a commercial scale. Parthenium plants can also be used in making inexpensive packing boards.