Lindernia crustacea

(L.) F. Muell

LinderniaceaeLeaves

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves

The leaves are eaten.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical and subtropical plant. It grows in paddy fields. It grows in low lying pastures and along river banks and in rice fields. In southern China it grows below 1,300 m above sea level. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Africa, America, American Samoa, Asia, Australia, Cambodia, China, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Indochina, Korea, Myanmar, SE Asia, South America, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, West Africa,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Argentina, American Samoa, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, French Guiana, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A herb. It grows each year from seed. It grows 10-20 cm tall. The branches are spreading and angular. The leaves are small and oval. They are 1-2 cm long by 1 cm wide They have teeth along the edge. The flowers are purple or blue.

How to Grow

The plant is sometimes a weed of cultivation.

Medicinal Uses

The plant is considered to have emetic and cathartic properties. It has given good results in treating bilious disorders, dysentery, amenorrhoea, and hepatitis. The powdered herb, mixed with rice water, is drunk to relieve diarrhoea, vomiting and cholera. A decoction of the leaves is given as a medicine after childbirth. An infusion is used to diminish leakage of albuminuria and to treat leprosy. A decoction is drunk as a tea for its febrifuge effect. The leaf decoction is applied topically to boils and itches, herpes-like sores, and to sores caused by forest ticks. The juice of the aerial parts of the plant, mixed with turmeric (Curcuma longa) and heated with a little water, is applied topically to treat infected fingernails.

Notes

Also put in the family Scrophulariaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Malaysian false pimpernel, Nilakanjiram, Phak luem phua

Antirrhinum hexandrum Forssk.Antirrhinum hexandrum G. Forst.Buchnera capillaris Desv, ex Ham.Capraria crustacea L.Gratiola aspera RothGratiola lucida VahlGratiola lucida Willd.Hornemannia ovata Link & OttoLinaria hexandra F. Dietr.Mimulus javanicus BlumeMorgania aspera Spreng.Morgania lucida Spreng.Pentsteira paniculata Griff.Pyxidaria crustacea (L.) KuntzeTittmannia ovata Rchb.Tittmannia scabra (R. Br.) Spreng.Torenia crustacea (L.) Cham. & Schltdl.Torenia flaccida R. Br.

References (2)

Price, L. L., 1997, Wild Plant Food in Agricultural Environments: A Study of Occurrence, management and gathering Rights in Northeast Thailand. Human Organization. 56(2)
Swapna, M. M. et al, 2011, A review on the medicinal and edible aspects of aquatic and wetland plants of India. J. Med. Plants Res. 5 (33) pp. 7163-7176