Gotu kola

Centella asiatica

Apiaceae

A marsh pennywort eaten for skin, memory folklore, and circulation — a salad herb in the tropics.

Traditional Asian food-medicine. Culinary leaf in Sri Lanka and India.

Parts used: Leaf · Whole herb
Traditional notes: Dull skin and scars folklore · Mental fog · Poor circulation in the legs · Sambol as food
Grow · USDA 6b: Tender perennial, USDA 9–11; a tray indoor north Division or seed on wet mix. Never let the tray dry. In work: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Harvest: Young leaves anytime the plant is growing.

A shallow tray of wet compost on a bright kitchen counter works.
Snip, don’t strip. It runs on stolons.
Winter indoor light is the limit north of the tropics.

Safety

Liver disease (extracts) Pregnancy in medicinal — not food — amounts

Lore

The pond-edge pennywort of South Asia. A Sinhalese proverb says eat it and you will live long enough to see a jungle grow. Elephants, the story goes, graze it. The leaf is a small green kidney.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.