The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Cressa cretica
Also called Crete Alkaliweed
Cressa cretica is a species of flowering plant in the morning glory family. It is found in northern and central Africa, southern Europe and western Asia, as well as parts of southeastern Asia and Australia. It has long been used in traditional medicine and research has demonstrated that it has some therapeutic effects.
Cressa cretica is known from the Mediterranean part of Europe, northern and central Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East and western Asia as far east as India and Sri Lanka. It also occurs in parts of southeastern Asia and in a number of states in Australia, but it is unclear as to whether it is native to these places. It is a halophyte and grows in salty parts of oases, in depressions in sandy areas that become wet seasonally, in salt marshes and beside temporary pools.
This plant is much used in traditional medicine; it is reputed to be an anthelmintic, an expectorant, an aid to digestion, an aphrodisiac and to have tonic properties among other uses. Research shows that the plant contains a number of chemical constituents and that it has some potential as an antibacterial, an antifungal and an antitussive agent. In combination with Tridax procumbens and Euphorbia thymifolia, it has been found to be effective as an anticancer treatment. It has also been shown to improve testicular function in rats.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cressa cretica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
