Gotu Kola

Asiatic

Pennywort (also called Gotu Kola or Pegaga) is an herb native to Asia. Its scientific name is Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (syn. Hydrocotyl asiatica Linn). It is in the family Umbelliferae/Apiaceae.

Pegaga comes from Singapore. It is a small, annual, slender, creeping herb. It has long-stalked, green, reniform leaves with rounded apices which have smooth texture with palmately netted veins. Pegaga have relatively long pericladial petioles, around 20 cm. The stems are creeping in nature (stolons), green to reddish green in color, interconnecting one plant to another.

The flowers are 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.

Pegaga's rootstock consists of rhizomes, growing vertically down.

They are creamish in color and covered with root hairs. The whole plant is used. It's crop matures in three months and the whole plant, including the roots, is harvested manually. When eaten raw as salad, Pegaga is thought to help maintain youthfulness. As a concoction of juice from the leaves it is thought to relieve hypertension. This juice is also used as a general tonic for good health. Also as a poultice of the leaves it is used to treat open sores.

Gotu Kola is listed as a nootrope.

Other useful herb information: Fo-Ti | White Willow | Aloe | Anise | Irish Moss | Gymnema | Juniper Berries

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