The Hakka people call Cat's Duckweed, and the Chinese medicine name is Ba Gui Tian.

Mainly produced in Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi and other places. Medicinal plant, the main treatment for impotence and spermatorrhea, uterine cold infertility, menstrual disorders, cold pain in the abdomen, rheumatism and paralysis, impotence and weakness of muscles and bones.

Bacopa monnieri is a perennial vine-like shrub. Strong adaptability, like a warm climate, sunny, avoid dry and waterlogged, with good drainage, loose soil, humus-rich sandy loam or yellow loam is good. Clay soil does not grow well. Thick soil grows well.

Expanded information

Botanical form

Bacopa monnieri (the original varieties): vine; fleshy roots do not locate intestinal constriction, the root flesh is slightly purplish-red, purple-blue after drying; shoots are varying lengths of coarse hairs, and then fall off to become rough, the old branches are glabrous, angular, brown or blue-black.

Leaves thin or slightly thick, papery, drying brown, oblong, ovate-oblong or obovate-oblong, 6-13 centimeters long, 3-6 centimeters wide, apically acute or mucronulate, base pure, rounded, or cuneate, margins entire, sometimes sparsely ciliolate.

The upper part is at first covered with sparse, tightly adhering long thick hairs, later becoming glabrous, the midvein linearly elevated, more or less prickly bristly or curved hairs, the lower part glabrous or sparsely short thickly hairy at the midvein; the lateral veins are (4~)5-7 per side, curved and arching upward, joined at or near the margins, and the reticulation veins are obvious or inconspicuous.

The petiole is 4-11 mm long, densely covered with short coarse hairs below; the stipules are 3-5 mm long, apically truncated, scarious, and fragile.

Inflorescences 3-7 umbellate arranged at the top of branches; peduncle 5-10 mm long, pubescent, often with ovate or linear involucral bracts 1 at the base; heads with 4-10 flowers; flowers (2~)3(~4)-basic, sessile; calyx obconical, proximally united with neighboring calyx.

Top with undulate teeth 2~3, outer one extra-large, triangular-lanceolate, pointed or obtuse, remaining teeth tiny; corolla white, subcampanulate, slightly fleshy, 6~7 mm long, corolla tube 3~4 mm long, narrowed apically and potted, limb usually 3-lobed, sometimes 4- or 2-lobed, lobes ovate or oblong, elevated outward apically, hooked-curved inwardly, sparsely short-hairy outside.

Inner face densely bearded below middle to throat; stamens as many as corolla lobes, inserted at lateral bases of lobes, filaments very short, anthers dorsifixed, ca. 2 mm; styles extensible, stigmas oblong or styles included, stigmas not inflated, 2 equidistant or 2 inequidistant, ovary (2~)3(~4)-loculed, ovules 1 per locule, inserted in proximal part of septum.

The polygamous drupe develops from many or a single flower, red when ripe, oblate or subglobose, 5-11 mm in diameter; drupe with schizocarps (2~)3(~4); schizocarp 3-angled, curved-arched on the outer side, trichomes covered, with seed 1 inside, the pericarp with a very short stipe; the seed is black when ripe, slightly 3-angled, glabrous. Flowering period May~July, fruit ripening period October~November.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Bacopa monnieri