Flora of the Hawaiian Islands
Dicotyledon Literature for Centella asiatica
Wagner et al., 1990, 1999; Lorence & Wagner, 2020.
   Apiaceae -- The Parsley Family Bibliography
      Centella asiatica

Common name(s): Asiatic pennywort, pohe kula
General Information
DistributionPantropical and subtropical.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i.

Apiaceae - Centella asiatica















Habit
Slender, perennial herb; stems 1 to several, creeping, rooting at the nodes, glabrous to floccose and glabrate.
Leaves
Leaves petiolate; blade orbicular reniform to ovate-cordate, 2‒6 cm long, 1.5‒5 cm wide, 5‒9-veined, margin crenate to entire, petiole 3‒30 cm long.
Flowers
Inflorescences a 2‒3-flowered umbel, peduncle 1.2‒4 cm long, involucral bracts usually 2, ovate to suborbicular, 2.5‒3 mm long, 1.5‒2.5 mm wide, margin scarious. Flowers on short pedicel, 0‒4 mm long; petals white to purplish or rose.
Fruit
Fruit ovoid to orbicular, 2‒5 mm in diameter, mericarps strongly flattened laterally, ribs usually 7‒9.
Chromosomes
2n = 17, 18*, 19, 20, 22, 33.
Contributor
Nancy Khan