Gonostegia hirta

Gonostegia hirta is in the nettle family, Urticaceae. Its home range spans tropical and subtropical parts of Asia. It extends to northern Australia. Useful Tropical Plants lists India, China, and Japan. It also lists much of Southeast Asia. The range takes in New Guinea and northeast Australia too. Kew calls its climate subtropical. Sources describe this herb as both annual and perennial. Some forms live one year; others live for more.

Plants reach about 2.5–3.3 feet (0.75–1 metre) tall. Useful Tropical Plants gives the lower height in its account. Its height table gives the upper figure. Plants For A Future gives that upper figure too. Stems may stand upright, scramble, or hang down. Their bases turn woody as the plant grows. The accounts give no details of leaf shape or colour. They give no mature spread or rate of growth either.

Plants For A Future records blooms from June to July. It lists August to September as the seed-ripening time. Each flower is male or female. One plant may bear flowers of both sexes. In other cases, male and female flowers grow on separate plants. The sources give no flower colour or fruit details. They do not say how pollen moves between flowers.

In the wild, this plant grows beside sunny valley streams. It also grows near woods, in thickets, and beside ditches. It lives in rice fields and on disturbed ground too. Most records fall between 328 and 3,281 feet (100–1,000 metres) above sea level. Some reach 8,858 feet (2,700 metres). Plants For A Future lists sun or light shade. It favours moist soil and accepts sand, loam, or clay. Soil can be mildly acid, neutral, or mildly alkaline. The same source suggests beds and sunny woodland edges. The evidence gives no rating for cold hardiness. It names no pests or diseases.

People gather wild plants for medicine and bark fibre. Plants For A Future lists no food uses. Useful Tropical Plants lists no food use either. Yet it reports that people eat leaves as medicine. Past uses include fever, skin sores, cramps, bruises, and bone injuries. People use the roots, leaves, or whole plant for these. Other records describe leaf poultices, or leaves placed on the skin. They also describe infusions made by steeping the whole plant. These reports record past practice, not proof of safe treatment. Both plant-use sources report no known hazards. That does not prove safety for people or pets.