[4] The plant is erect and sparingly hairy, soft-stemmed, and grows to 20 to 70 cm high with a branch tap root.

The fruit produced is oval shaped, reddish brown or off-white, has white hairs up to 8 mm long, and exhibits dry indehiscent properties.

Emilia sonchifolia is a host of Xanthomonas campestris, which causes a bacterial infection in beans in Brazil and Cuba.

In Vietnam Emilia sonchifolia has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of fever, sore throat, diarrhea, eczema and as an antidote for snake bites.

[15] Emilia sonchifolia is classified as a weed that grows in the fields of many agriculture crops, but it can be controlled via the use of certain chemicals.

In soybean fields, a mixture of bentazone, fomensafen and sethoxydim is used to control Emilia sonchifolia growth.

In cotton and soybean fields, sethoxydim is the chemical agent used to control Emilia sonchifolia growth.

Lastly, atrazine is the chemical agent used to control the growth of Emilia sonchifolia in sugarcane crops.