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Limnophila aromatica
Also called Finger Grass, Rice Paddy Herb, Rice Paddy Marshweed
Limnophila aromatica is a tropical annual herb in the Plantaginaceae family, grown as a culinary herb and aquarium plant. It thrives in hot, wet conditions, especially in drained, moist sandy soil in rice paddies after the wet season.
Limnophila aromatica, the rice paddy herb, is a tropical flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, where it flourishes in hot temperatures and grows most often in watery environments, particularly in flooded rice fields. It is called ngò ôm, ngò om, or ngổ in Vietnam and used as an herb and also cultivated for use as an aquarium plant. The plant was introduced to North America in the 1970s due to Vietnamese immigration following the Vietnam War. It is called "ma om" (ម្អម) in Khmer. It is used in traditional Cambodian soup dishes and Southern Vietnamese cuisine. It can grow in flooded rice paddies during wet season but it grows best on drained but still wet sandy soil of harvested rice paddies for a few months after the rainy season ends. It dies out soon after it flowers.
Limnophila aromatica has a flavor and aroma reminiscent of both lemon and cumin. It is used most often in Vietnamese cuisine, where it is called ngò ôm or ngò om. It is an ingredient in canh chua, a sweet and sour seafood soup which also includes tamarind, not to be confused with ngò gai which is also added as an accompaniment to the noodle soup called phở.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Limnophila aromatica 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.
