Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (Apiaceae)

Scientific name
Centella asiatica (L.) Urban
Family name
Apiaceae (Syn. Umbelliferae)
Common name
Asiatic pennywort (English); tsubokusa (Japanese)
Local name
Bua bok, pa-na-e khaa-doh, phak waen, phak nok
Small, slender creeping herb, often longer than 40 cm. Leaves simple, orbicular-reniform, margin crenate, 2–5 cm in diameter. Petiole 2-4 cm long, up to 10–12 cm on sterile branches. Inflorescence an umbel, solitary or fascicular, axillary. Flowers single or clustered up to 5, small, whitish or reddish, subsessile. Fruit suborbicular, compressed, 3–3.5 mm in diameter; mericarps reticulate, with several ribs.
Traditional medicinal use
Functionality
Functional constituents
Common weed in wet areas and shady open spaces. Sometimes grown as a vegetable in small gardens. Easily propagated by runners.
Fresh leaves taste slightly bitter and are added to dishes such as yum bai bua bok (spicy salad) in north-eastern Thailand and to laap (spicy chopped meat salads) or fried noodles in Northern Thailand.
Leaves
Leaves