Asteraceae

Bitter bush

Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob.

Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Chromolaena

Pet and kid safety: not checked yet. Check pet-safe plants

Bitter bush (Chromolaena odorata) — FlowerPhoto: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

Is yours looking unwell? Scan your plant — free

Common names

By language (26)

ace: Gapah lhan
Afrikaans: Paraffienbos
Bangla: বন মটমটিয়া, আসামলতা, গন্ধতুলসী, দূরকি গাছ, বড়ো শিয়ালমুতি, ভুতরাজ, শিয়ালকাঁটা, হাড়মটমটিয়া
bik: Lagonoy
Burmese: ပိစပ်
Chinese: 飛機草, 飞机草, 香澤蘭, 香泽兰
dtp: Lohunoi
English: Bitter bush, Jack in the bush
Filipino: Hagonoy
French: Herbe du Laos
gor: Wunggune
Haitian Creole: Lang-chat
Igbo: Bitter bush
Indonesian: Krinyu
Japanese: ヒマワリヒヨドリ
mad: Kaju golkar
Malay: Busuk-busuk, Panca alam, Pokok Jepun, Pokok kapal terbang
Malayalam: കമ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ് പച്ച, Common floss, കമ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ് അപ്പ, നായ് തുളസി, നീലപ്പീലി, മുറിപ്പച്ച, വേനപ്പച്ച
mnw: င္ၚာ်င္ၚုဲ
Nepali: औले वनमारा
pam: Malapasi
Russian: Хромолена душистая
sat: ᱯᱩᱨᱩ
shn: တူၼ်ႈယႃႈမိူင်းႁၢမ်း, တူၼ်ႈယႃႈႁၢမ်းၽင်ႉ, တူၼ်ႈၽႃးၽင်ႉ
Thai: สาบเสือ
Vietnamese: Bớp bớp, Cỏ lào, Cây ba bớp, Cây bớp bớp, Cây cộng sản, Cây phân xanh, Cỏ Nhật, Cỏ Việt Minh

Synonyms

Chromolaena clematitis (DC.) Pruski
Chrysocoma maculata Vell.
Chrysocoma maculata Vell.Conc.
Chrysocoma volubilis Vell.Conc.
Eupatorium affine Hook. & Arn.
Eupatorium atriplicifolium Vahl
Eupatorium brachiatum Sw. ex Wikstr.
Eupatorium clematitis DC.
Eupatorium conyzoides Vahl
Eupatorium conyzoides Mill.
Eupatorium conyzoides f. angustiflorum Cuatrec.
Eupatorium conyzoides f. conyzoides
Eupatorium conyzoides f. glabrata Hassl.
Eupatorium conyzoides subsp. conyzoides
Eupatorium conyzoides var. angustiflorum Cuatrec.
Eupatorium conyzoides var. conyzoides
Eupatorium conyzoides var. extensa Hieron.
Eupatorium conyzoides var. floribunda Hieron.
Eupatorium conyzoides var. glabrescens Steetz
Eupatorium conyzoides var. heterolepis Griseb.
Eupatorium conyzoides var. incanum Baker
Eupatorium conyzoides var. paucidentatum Baker
Eupatorium conyzoides var. pauciflorum Baker
Eupatorium conyzoides var. scaberulum Hassl.
Eupatorium conyzoides var. tambillense Hieron.
Eupatorium dichotomum Sch.Bip.
Eupatorium divergens Less.
Eupatorium floribundum Kunth
Eupatorium graciliflorum DC.
Eupatorium incisum Rich.
Eupatorium klattii Millsp.
Eupatorium odoratum L.
Eupatorium odoratum f. odoratum
Eupatorium odoratum f. scandens Kuntze
Eupatorium odoratum f. squarrosum J.Kost.
Eupatorium odoratum var. brachiatum (Sw. ex Wikstr.) DC.
Eupatorium odoratum var. cubense DC.
Eupatorium odoratum var. mallotophyllum B.L.Rob.
Eupatorium odoratum var. pauciflora Hieron.
Eupatorium sabeanum Buckley

and 9 more.

Flowers

In flower: April, October to January (from 2,657 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Subshrub
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Lower 48 states: native, Navassa Island: native, Pacific Basin: introduced, Puerto Rico: native, U.S. Virgin Islands: native

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Vengolis, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Rahul Mungikar, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Elaine Bello, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: jsudre, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Chandru Chawla, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF

More in Chromolaena

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.