Centella asiatica

Indian Pennywort is a small creeping herb with shovel shaped leaves emerging alternately in clusters at the stem nodes. The runners lie along the ground and the inch long leaves with their scalloped edges rise above on long reddish petioles. The insignificant greenish- to pinkish-white flowers are borne in dense umbels (clusters in which all the flower stalks arise from the same point) on separate stems in the summer. The seeds are pumpkin-shaped nutlets 0.1-0.2 in long. In India it is revered as a medicinal herb, and particularly in Manipur the full plant is eaten as food like a leafy vegetable. Indian Pennywort appears to have originated in the wetlands of Asia. China, India, and Malaya were probably within its original range.
Commonly known as Jal Brahmi, medicine made from the leaves and the body of this plant is a tonic for diuretic and alterative usages. It subsides the symptoms of the disease and contributes to general health of the patient. It is further known as great tonic for the brain and stimulator of hair growth. The whole plant possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifebrile, diuretic and galactagogic properties. Poultices made from the plant is recommended for contusions, closed fractures, sprains and tuberculosis. The main compounds in Centella are the triterpenes asiatic and madecassic acid, together with triterpenoid ester glycosides, known as asiaticoside and brahminoside, while the volatile principle in the plant contains p-cymol, b-caryophyllene and farnesene.
Product Details
• Botanical Name: Centella asiatica
• Family Name: Appiaceae
• Common Name: Pennywort, Indian Pennywort, Artayniya-e Hindi, Jal Brahmi
• Part Used: Whole Plant
• Habitat: Grown in waterlogged places throughout India.
• Product offered: Leaves, Whole plant