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Andrographis paniculata
Also called Green Chireta, Green Chiretta
In Singapore: Bitterweed, King of Bitters, Creat, Green Chireta, Indian Echinachea, 穿心莲, 四方蓮 (Grown in Singapore)
Creat (Andrographis paniculata) is an annual herb from the Acanthaceae family, native to India and Sri Lanka and widely cultivated across Asia for traditional medicine. It grows best in a sunny spot in warm, seasonally dry tropical conditions.
Andrographis paniculata, commonly known as creat or green chiretta, is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.
It is widely cultivated in Southern and Southeastern Asia, where it has been believed to be a treatment for bacterial infections and some diseases. Mostly the leaves and roots have been used for such purposes; the whole plant is also used, in some cases.
The plant does best in a sunny location. The seeds are sown during May and June (northern hemisphere). The seedlings are transplanted at a distance of 60 cm (24 in) × 30 cm (12 in).
Andrographolide is the major constituent extracted from the leaves of the plant and is a bicyclic diterpenoid lactone. This bitter principle was isolated in pure form by Gorter in 1911. Systematic studies on chemistry of A. paniculata have been carried out.
Some known constituents are:
The species is distributed in tropical Asian countries, often in isolated patches. It can be found in a variety of habitats, such as plains, hillsides, coastlines, and disturbed and cultivated areas such as roadsides and farms. Native populations of A. paniculata are spread throughout south India and Sri Lanka which perhaps represent the center of origin and diversity of the species. The herb is an introduced species in northern parts of India, Java, Malaysia, Indonesia, the West Indies, and elsewhere in the Americas. The species also occurs in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, and other parts of Asia where it may or may not be native. The plant is cultivated in many areas, as well.
Andrographis paniculata is widely used in the indigenous folk, tribal, Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine systems of India, mainly for its claimed antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects, though these uses have not yet undergone rigorous pharmacological study.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Andrographis paniculata 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
