Houttuynia Cordate

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Houttuynia cordata (lat. Houttuynia cordata) is a herbaceous perennial plant that loves wet places. It is so far the only species of the genus Houttuynia (lat. Houttuynia) of the small family Savrurae (lat. Saururaceae). Although some sources speak of the existence of another species of the genus called "Houttuynia emeiensis" growing in the shady, humid places of Japan, Korea and a number of countries in Southeast Asia. The leaves and young roots of the plant are used as a vegetable and root crop in a number of countries in Southeast Asia. Chinese medicine uses Houttuynia cordata in the treatment of pneumonia.

What's in your name

The hard-to-read Latin genus name "Houttuynia" honors the memory of a Dutch botanist and physician named Maarten Houttuyn (1720 - 1798).

The specific epithet "cordata" is translated from Latin into Russian by the word "heart-shaped". The reason for the species epithet was the leaves of the plant, which have a heart-shaped shape.

In the countries of Southeast Asia, the plant has many local folk names, for example, the following: "grass with a fishy smell", "poisonous blocking installation", "Jamirdoh", "Gankmalukh", "Aytanglu".

In English, there are the following names for this plant: "fish mint" (fish mint), "fish leaf" (fish leaf), "lizard tail" (lizard tail), "chameleon plant" (chameleon plant) and even "bishop's weed" (bishop's weed).

Description

For the long years of Houttuynia cordata, the creeping, nodular rhizome is responsible, which releases roots in its nodes. On the surface of the earth, from the rhizome, naked, furrowed stems are born, which behave in different ways: some are erect, others are ascending, and still others take a sinuous appearance. Depending on the living conditions, the height of the plant ranges from twenty to eighty centimeters.

The stems are a support for petiolate, whole, simple leaves, which are located on them in the next order. The shape of the leaves can be different, broadly lanceolate-triangular-ovate, with a deep heart-shaped base. The length of the leaves exceeds the length of the furrowed petioles, and the leaves, under the weight of their own weight, bend towards the surface of the earth with their sharp tips.

A short (one to three centimeters high) spike-shaped inflorescence, born from the leaf axils, is formed by numerous greenish-yellow flowers without a perianth, which cover the peduncle stem with a thick layer. Four or six whitish, oval, relatively large creatures, which some people perceive as flower petals, are actually just bracts, located at the base of the inflorescence in the form of a corolla blanket. So, the flower is presented to nature in the form of three stamens with yellow anthers and three or four carpels.

The vegetation cycle is completed by a fleshy capsule with numerous round seeds. It reproduces both through seeds and vegetatively.

Usage

The leaves of Houttuynia cordata have an unusual taste for plants, which is often compared to "fishy". Therefore, it does not have such widespread use as, for example, mint, basil or other herbs. However, in Vietnam it is grown as a leafy vegetable, served fresh as a garnish for fish dishes.

Leaves and young tender roots are used in salads, as a side dish, in dishes with fish in India. In a number of Chinese provinces, not only leaves are eaten, but also roots as root crops. And in Japan, a drink called "dokudami cha" is brewed from dry leaves, which translates as "hauttuyniya heart-shaped tea."

Traditional Chinese medicine uses Houttuynia cordata to treat pneumonia, including SARS, known as the purple death.

It can be used to decorate reservoirs, but it grows very quickly, displacing its neighbors.