Gotu kola:  A plant to be honored, revered and used.

Gotu kola, Centella asiatica, is a plant with small, round leaves that grows well in damp, moist places.  I recently harvested some from a dear friend’s property near her pond in Florida.   I harvested leaves to tincture, and dug up several plants to bring home as I seemed to have lost several of my plants this past summer due to the severe drought we unfortunately experienced in Central Texas. Even though it is a water and shade lover, this beneficial herb did well in my Texas garden for many years.

Gotu kola is native to India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, South Africa and the tropics. It can be grown as a ground cover or is lovely as a hanging container plant.  It likes shade and a warm climate and here in Texas it needs to be heavily mulched during our cold season. If you haven’t ever eaten a fresh Gotu kola leaf, try it, it’s quite good and only slightly bitter.  According to renowned Texas Herbalist, Odenna Brennan, it promotes longer life.  She claimed to eat three leaves a day for robust health and a productive, sustained life.

The leaves of Gotu kola, also known as Brahmi in Aryuvedic Medicine, are used to improve memory by increasing blood circulation to the brain.   It is useful in promoting mental calm, and concentration. One of my most popular products, Think Plus is a fresh tincture made from these lovely leaves, as well as Ginkgo, Rosemary and Holy Basil.  A great and helpful formula!! The leaves may also be made into a tea and eaten in salads. Rex and his wife, my friends from Sri Lanka, enjoy this incredible herb by making a pesto.  Rex gave me my original plants and I am hopeful that the one still surviving will thrive once again.

Gotu kola, aka Indian pennywort, is a wonderful tonic for convalescence, nervous exhaustion, stress and neurotic disturbances.  It is high in B vitamins, Vitamin K, magnesium, calcium and sodium.  The herb has a calming effect on the body and is used to support the central nervous system.  These qualities make Gotu kola a helpful herb for children with A.D.D. because of its stimulating effect on the brain which helps to increase one’s ability to focus while having a soothing effect on an overactive nervous system.

The round leaves are also used topically in healing burns, connective tissue, lymph tissue, blood vessels and mucous membranes. The herb contains several glycosides that exhibit wound healing and anti-inflammatory activities necessary for healthy skin. My fresh Gotu kola leaves are also an ingredient in my popular Wound Salve.

Gotu kola is regarded as one of the most spiritual and rejuvenating herbs in Ayurvedic Medicine and is used to enhance meditation practices.  It is said to develop the crown charka, the energy center at the top of the head, and to balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which the leaf is said to resemble.