How to Identify Centella asiatica? Master These Identification Features

I. Leaves

The leaves of Centella asiatica are kidney-shaped, round, or horseshoe-shaped, green in color, with bluntly toothed margins and a broad heart-shaped base, with soft hairs on the underside or hairless on both sides; the petiole is about 1.5-27 cm long, sparsely covered with soft hairs or hairless in the upper part.

II. Flowers

Centella asiatica has umbels clustered in the leaf axils, usually with 2 bracts, rarely 3, ovate in shape. Each umbel bears 3-4 flowers, head-like, with ovate petals that are purplish-red or creamy white.

III. Fruit

The fruit of Centella asiatica is spherical, with the base heart-shaped then becoming flat-topped, compressed on both sides, with several longitudinal ridges on each side and distinct small transverse veins between the ridges forming a net-like pattern, and the surface is smooth or hairy. The flowering and fruiting period is from April to October.