Nyctaginaceae FAMILY

Boerhavia repens

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Boerhavia repens is an annual to perennial, prostrate or straggling herb, with stems up to 60cm long. The plant has a slender taproot and a stem that is few to much-branched[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The plant is widely used, mainly in India, for its medicinal virtues. It is harvested from the wild, mainly for medicinal use, but also for local use as a food. It also has the potential to be used to cover the soil and protect it from erosion.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangePossibly originating in the Old World tropics, the plant is Pantropical and is also found in subtropical areas.

HabitatDisturbed sandy and rocky localities, often in occasionally inundated areas such as ditches along roadsides, dry river beds, flood plains and irrigated fields; at elevations up to 1,600 metres, occasionally to 1,900 metres[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].