Prickly Chaff Flower
Devil's Horsewhip

Achyranthes aspera

Prickly Chaff Flower, Chyranthes aspera, a weed of garden plots in Kenya, photo © by Michael PlagensPrickly Stems of Chaff Flower, Chyranthes aspera, a weed of garden plots in Kenya, photo © by Michael Plagens

Herbaceous weed observed in a Nairobi garden. Kenya, Africa. April 2011.

Prickly Chaff Flower, Chyranthes aspera, a weed of garden plots in Kenya, photo © by Michael Plagens

Herbaceous weed observed in a farming area hedgerow, Eldoret, Kenya, January, 2012.

HERB: Herbaceous weed about a meter tall with upright stems that are sharply prickly below the flowers. Long slender stems may be supported by other vegetation.

Prickly garden weed. Achyranthes, Amaranthaceae, photo © Michael Plagens

FLOWERS: The flowers are small, but bright pink in color. The scaly bracts around the flowers become tough and elongate with very sharp tips. This makes weeding and pulling them out a painful enterprise. Tall narrow spikes with many flowers.

LEAVES: Leaves are elliptical and have a bubbly surface between the veins.

RANGE: This plant is native to tropical Africa and is a widespread to common garden weed. This plant has become a weed to many other tropical and subtropical lands through human-caused dispersal.

FRUIT: One seed within each dry seed capsule.

ARMED. The stems all have sharp, downward point bracts.

Bart Wursten, a developer of one of the most useful websites devoted to African flora, Flora of Zimbabwe, supplied the identification.

Amaranthaceae -- Amaranth Family

More Information:


Kenya Natural History

Copyright Michael J. Plagens, Created on 15 November 2011,
updated 13 July 2012.