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| Departments » Herbal Medicine » Materia Medica » Centella asiatica |
Note - the monographs are provided for informational purposes only, and are not to be used for self-medication.
Centella asiatica (Hydrocotyle asicatica) Pennywort
| Botanic Name | Centella asiatica |
| Common Name | Pennywort, Gotu cola, Marsh Penny, White Rot, Thick-leaved Pennywort (Grieve) |
| Family | Apiacea |
| Habitat | Widespread in damp ground, along roads, near swamps, in gardens. It is found in all states of Australia. Note that there may be two species or subspecies involved. The plants of temperate Australia differ from the typical Centella asiatica of the north. (Lassak) |
| Description | A perennial herb creeping along the ground and rooting at leaf nodes. Its leaves are heart shaped to circular or kidney shaped with straight or regularly shallow lobed margins. They may be slightly hairy and vary from 2-3cm in length. Flowers occur in small heads of three to four with small leaf-like bracts under the flower head. Petals are pink or white and overlap. The fruit is compressed sideways and measures 3mm or so in diameter. (Lassak) |
| Similar Plants | Common pennywort (Centella vulgaris); Hydrocotyle spp. ; Viola odorata |
| Parts Used | Leaves and stem |
| History | Widely used
in India for the treatment of leporosy(Lassak)
The Indian drug ‘brahmi’ is both Centella asiatica and Herpestis monniera(Lassak) Recently come into popular favour for relieving the symptoms of arthritis. |
| Constituents | Triterpenoid
glycosides (including asiaticoside) (Mills)
Vallerin (Mills) Tannins (Mills) Alkaloid (Mills) Volatile oil (Mills) Pectin (Mills) |
| Actions | Diuretic (Grieve),(Mills)
Aperient / bitter digestive tonic (Grieve),(Mills) alterative tonic (Grieve),(Mills),(Lassak) Stimulant in small doses (Grieve) Narcotic in large doses (Grieve),(Lassak) Relaxing nervine (Bushell) Immunostimulant (Bushell) Antiemetic (Bushell) Hypocholesterolaemic(Bushell) Decreases mean blood urea levels(Bushell) Locally cleansing and healing(Bushell) Damages leprosy bacillus(Bushell) Reduces fever and inflammation(Bushell) |
| Applications | Fever (RD),(Grieve)
Bowel complaints (Grieve) Noted remedy for leprosy (RD),(Grieve),(Mills) Rheumatism (Grieve) Ichthyosis (Grieve) Poultice for syphilitic ulcers (Grieve),(Lassak) Uterine Cancer (Hendler) Wounds (Hendler) Arthritis (Hendler) Stuttering (Hendler) Haemorrhoids (Hendler) ‘Fountain of youth herb’ (Hendler) Cellulite (Murray) Skin disease(Bushell) Respiratory tract infection(Bushell) Cirrhosis(Bushell) Venous insufficiency(Bushell) Tremors and twitching muscles(Bushell) |
| Dosage | 0.5 – 2 gms dried herb tds for up to one month (Mills) |
| Combinations | |
| C/I Cautions | Causes
stupor and headache, and with some people vertigo and coma (Grieve)
Can be safely consumed when used appropriately (McGuffin) Long term use of fresh leaf may cause mouth ulcers, nausea and diarrhoea(Bushell) May cause contact dermatitis in some(Bushell) |
| BHP S/I | None Given |