Spermacoce ocymoides

Burm.f.

Button weed

Rubiaceae

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc-sa
(c) Dinesh Valke, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

iNaturalist · cc-by
(c) Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Neptalí Ramírez Marcial

iNaturalist · cc0
no rights reserved

What to Eat

Edible parts: Medicine

The leaves are applied in a poultice as a treatment for headache. The finely crushed leaves are applied to wounds. The sap is used to treat eczema, worms and ringworm.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant.

Africa, Asia, East Africa, India,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, 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, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A herb. It can be erect or lie over. It can be 40 cm tall. The roots are fine and fibrous. The leaves are narrowly oval and 0.4-3.6 cm long by 0.25-1.6 cm wide. They are rounded at the tip. The flowers are in small groups at the nodes. They are 3-6 mm across. The fruit are oblong and 1 mm long by 0.8 mm wide.

How to Grow

The plant has become naturalized in areas outside its native range. The dried leaves smell strongly of coumarin.

Medicinal Uses

Traditionally used in medicine.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Spermacoce ocymoides is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae. It is widespread in Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Solomon Isles, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu.

Names & Synonyms

Bigelovia gracilis Spreng.Borreria ocymoides (Burm.f.) DC.and others

References (1)

Kumar, R. & Saikia, P., 2020, Wild edible plants of Jharkhand and their utilitarian perspectives. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol 19 (2), April 2020, pp 237-250