C. hirtus is an approx. 50 cm high, annual/ perennial herbaceous, erect or spreading plant. The following description is taken from the Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2016):
Stems erect, 5–10(–25) dm, puberulent in lines, hairs retrorse, blunt-tipped. Leaves: petiole 2–20 mm;blade narrowly lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 2–7 cm, base rounded to obtuse, margins crenate-serrate, proximal teeth not prolonged, apex acute, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hirsute-strigose on veins. Inflorescences usually solitary flowers, sometimes fasciculate or cymose, 2–3-flowered. Pedicels 3–4 mm. Flowers: sepals narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 3–5(–7) mm, not awned, hirsute;petals 4–6 mm;stamens 15–25. Capsules cylindric, terete, not wing-angled, 2-valved, distally abruptly constricted to beaklike apex, without awns, (20–)25–45(–60) × 2 mm, sparsely to moderately strigose to strigulose.
Related invasive species
- Corchorus hirtus
Related Farm Practice
- Flora
Related location
- Colombia
C. hirtus is a herb or subshrub found to be infesting wetlands in Minas Gerias, Brazil due to its high frequency and density (Mascarenhas et al., 1995). In Brazil, it is widely distributed and grows either as a ruderal or as an invading weed infesting pastures. It was listed as a weed in a checklist of invasive plants in forestry plantations in the Lower Amazon (Pires, 1992), but the paper states that the term ‘invasive’ is equated with ‘weed’ defined as any plant growing where it is not wanted, so its status as a true invasive is dubious. It is listed as a weed in several countries by Sinha et al. (2011). It often grows as a weed in grain fields in Central America (Standley and Steyermark, 1949).
C. hirtus is one of the weed species present in rice crops in Colombia (Ramírez et al., 2015). It is also found growing with other agricultural crops such as cotton, cassava, maize and beans (Blawid et al., 2013).