Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.

Global description
 
Centella asiatica is a terrestrial, perennial, creepin ggrass , up to 50 cm long, taking roots at nodes. Roots are fibrous, white or brown. Stem with rounded section, solid, glabrous. Stipules absent. Leaves are simple, neither lobed nor divided, alternate spiral, stalked, round, orbicular, more than 2 cm long / wide, glabrous on both sides, margin entire, wavy or coarsely serrated, round apex, base cordate, palmately veined . The leaves emit a carrot odor when crumpled. Flowers are bisexual, and grouped in lateral umbel, stalked, with 5 white petals. The fruit is a dehiscent schizocarpous, which opens in mericarp.
 
Cotyledons
 
The cotyledons are shortly stalked. The leaf blade is oval to elliptic, slightly notched at the top, 6 mm long and 5 mm wide. They are glabrous with a marked midrib.
 
First leaves
 
The first leaves are simple, alternate, held by a long petiole, expanded in canaliculate sheath. The lamina is kidney-shaped, 6.5 to 8.5 mm long by 6.7 to 9.5 mm wide. The base is slightly cordate or kidney-shaped, the apex rounded or emarginate. The margin is lobed or nicked (7 lobes). Both sides are glabrous, with trinervate venation at the base.
 
General habit
 
Herbaceous plant, vivacious, creeping, rooting at the nodes.
 
Underground system
 
The plant has a taproot system sometimes important, adventitious roots at nodes.
 
Stem
 
The stem is thin, cylindrical, striated, stoloniferous, with long inter-nodes having adventitious roots. Purple in color, glabrous or with woolly loose or dense tomemtum.
 
Leaf
 
The leaves are arranged in small tufts of 1 to 5, along the petiole of 1 to 50 cm long, in grooves and at the sheathed base, papery, glabrous to pubescent or woolly. Leaf blade entire, reniform to orbicular, with cordate base and rounded top, 1.7 cm long and 1.5 to 9 cm wide. The leaf blade is loosely hairy or woolly or pubescent on the underside, especially on the ribs. Upper surface is glabrous. Margin is crenated to serrated. Tines at the base are smaller and sharper than those of the top who are wider. Venation palmate. The leaves emit a carrot odor when crumpled.
 
Inflorescence
 
The highly contracted inflorescence has 1-5 flowers in umbel, in the axils of leaves. Peduncle erect, 1.5 to 5 cm long, shorter than the petioles. Involucre made up of 2 to 3 membranous bracts, persistent, oblong or oval to sub circular, up to 6 mm long and purple in color.
 
Flower
 
The bisexual flowers are sessile or with spindly pedicels, 15 mm long. Calyx with 5 small tines at the top of the ovary. Corolla has 5 petals, oval to triangular, and red to purple. 5 stamens alternate with petals. The inferior ovary has 2 separate carpels and each surmounted by a style and a stigma.
 
Fruit
 
The fruit is a round to ellipsoid achene, yellowish brown and slightly lobed. Strongly repressed in the corner, laterally compressed of 2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. Glabrous or loosely pubescent with prominent primary veins and reticulate secondary venation.

Origin

Centella asiatica is native to Asia and Oceania.

Worldwide distribution

Centella asiatica is a pantropical species, widely distributed in America, tropical Africa, India, Pakistan, China, Japan and the Pacific Islands. It is present in the highlands of all countries of the Indo-Gangetic region except Bangladesh.

https://www.gbif.org/species/3034128