Centella asiatica

The plant grows in tropical swampy areas. The stems are slender, creeping stolons, green to reddish-green in color, connecting plants to each other. It has long-stalked, green, rounded apices which have a smooth texture with palmately netted veins. The leaves are borne on pericardial petioles, around 2 cm.

The rootstock consists of rhizomes, growing vertically down. They are cream in color and covered with root hairs. The flowers are white or pinkish to red in color, born in small, rounded bunches (umbels) near the surface of the soil. Each flower is partly enclosed in two green bracts. The hermaphrodite flowers are minute in size (less than 3 mm), with 5-6 corolla lobes per flower. Each flower bears five stamens and two styles. The fruit is densely reticulate, distinguishing it from species of Hydrocotyle which have smooth, ribbed or warty fruit. The crop matures in three months, and the whole plant, including the roots, is harvested manually. Centella asiatica is an important medicinal herb that is widely used in the Orient and is becoming popular in the West. Triterpenoid, saponins, the primary constituents of Centella asiatica are mainly believed to be responsible for its wide therapeutic actions.