Ageratum conyzoides, goatweed or billy-goat weed, is a soft, hairy weed with fluffy mauve-blue flower heads that has spread from tropical America across almost all of India. It carpets field edges, forest clearings and roadsides, and it is listed among the country’s most troublesome invasive plants. It contains liver-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, so it should not be eaten.
- Botanical name
- Ageratum conyzoides L.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Tamil
- Pumpullu
- Hindi
- Sahadevi jangli
- Parts used
- None as food
- Habit
- Verge floss-flower; not a keerai
- Last updated
- 2026-10-25
How to recognise Goatweed
It is an upright annual, usually knee-high, with opposite, oval, toothed leaves that are soft and hairy. Crushed leaves give off a musky smell, which is the source of the goat name.
Flower heads are small, round and fluffy, made of many thread-like florets in pale blue, mauve or white, grouped in flat-topped clusters.
The seeds are tiny, black, with a few short bristles that help them travel.
The garden floss flower, Ageratum houstonianum, is a larger, more showy relative grown in flower beds.
Traditional use of Goatweed
Folk practice
Leaves have been applied to cuts and sores in folk practice in Africa and Asia.
Tropical folk practice
Modern notes on Goatweed
The plant contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids such as lycopsamine, which can damage the liver over time. That alone rules out eating it or drinking it as tea.
Ecologists rank it among the most widespread invasive weeds in the Indian Himalaya, the Western Ghats and farmland, where it displaces native plants and reduces grazing quality.
Goatweed safety
Do not eat it or make teas from it. Keep livestock off heavy infestations.
Ecology and sourcing
It is native to Central and South America and now grows across the tropics and subtropics.
Each plant produces tens of thousands of seeds, and it flowers within weeks of germinating, so it spreads fast on disturbed ground.
Related plants
Also in Asteraceae
Questions about Goatweed
Is Goatweed a keerai?
No. It contains liver-toxic alkaloids. Do not eat it.
Why goatweed?
The crushed leaves smell musky, like a goat.
Is Goatweed native to India?
No. It came from tropical America and is invasive.
Sources
- Ageratum conyzoides L. — Plants of the World Online, Kew (search) (accessed 2026)
- Wikidata item Q1949712 (Ageratum conyzoides)
Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.