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Aerva lanata
Also called Aerva
Ouret lanata (Aerva lanata), mountain knotgrass, is a sprawling, somewhat woody perennial herb native to tropical Africa and Asia, usually found as a weed on dry or disturbed ground. Grow it in warm, well-drained soil in full sun; it tolerates poor conditions but likes some moisture.
Ouret lanata (synonym Aerva lanata), the mountain knotgrass, is a woody, prostrate or succulent, perennial herb in the family Amaranthaceae, native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. It has been included as occurring in Australia by the US government, but it is not recognised as occurring in Australia by any Australian state herbarium or Plants of the World Online. The plant sometimes flowers in the first year.
Ouret lanata is a common weed which grows wild everywhere in the plains of India. The root has a camphor-like aroma. The dried flowers which look like soft spikes, are sold under the commercial names Buikallan and Boor. It is one of the plants included in Dasapushpam, the ten sacred flowers of Kerala. Ouret lanata is known as 'konda pindi aaku' (కొండ పిండి ఆకు) in Telugu because of the 'powdery' appearance of its leaves, but several regional names exist.
Ouret lanata is native to tropical Africa, Madagascar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the Indian subcontinent, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, the Philippines, and New Guinea. The species prefers damper sites than Aerva javanica and can be found in open forests on mountain slopes, on waste and disturbed ground, deserted cultivation and coastal scrub and at elevations from sea level to 900 m (3,000 ft). It is a common weed in arable fields and bare patches of ground.
This plant is used for food for people and animals. The whole plant, especially the leaves, is edible. The leaves are put into soup or eaten as a spinach or as a vegetable. The plant provides grazing for stock, game and chickens. The plant is used as a traditional medicine for snakebites..
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ouret lanata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
