Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Gotu Kola

Description

Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) is a member of the Apiaceae carrot family. It is also called pennywort, marsh penny, water pennywort, and sheep rot. The name sheep rot comes from the erroneous belief in Europe that gotu kola caused foot rot in sheep. Gotu kola is often mistaken for the kola nut plant (Cola nitida). However, the two are not related and gotu kola, unlike the kola nut, contains no caffeine. Gotu kola is noted in India as a very powerful spiritual herb, and Ayurvedic medicine refers to it as Brahmi because it helps obtain knowledge of the spiritual being.

Gotu kola, a perennial, grows in India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, South Africa,...