Productive Plant Profile – Gotu Kola

Part Shade to Shade | Moist Soil | Edible Leaves | Medicinal | Great for Pots & Groundcovers

Botanical Name: Centella asiatica
Family: Apiaceae (or sometimes Araliaceae, depending on classification)
Common Names: Gotu Kola, Indian Pennywort, Thankuni
Origin: Tropical Asia and parts of Africa

Description

Gotu Kola is one of those humble, spreading groundcovers that quietly does its thing, but once you get to know it, it earns a permanent spot in the garden. With its little kidney-shaped leaves, delicate creeping stems, and preference for damp spots, it’s perfect for growing under fruit trees, beside ponds, or in containers on a shady verandah.

Traditionally used as a longevity herb in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Gotu Kola is both an edible leafy green and a valuable medicinal plant with a long history of use for skin health, memory, circulation and inflammation.

Cultivation

Gotu Kola loves a moist, shady spot and will thrive in filtered light, understorey beds, or even indoors near a bright window. It’s not fussy about soil, but does best in rich, well-drained earth with consistent moisture. Add compost or worm castings to give it a boost, and mulch to help it hold water.

In SE Queensland, it grows year-round, though it slows down a little in winter. It spreads by creeping stems that root as they go, so it works beautifully as a living mulch or groundcover, but keep an eye on it, as it can be a bit enthusiastic in ideal conditions.

In pots, it’s very easy to manage and can even be grown in a shallow bowl or hanging basket. Just keep it well-watered.

Harvesting

You can pick Gotu Kola leaf by leaf or snip a whole stem when needed. The youngest, brightest green leaves are the most tender and mild tasting. Avoid harvesting too heavily all at once. Leave enough for the plant to keep growing happily.

You can use it fresh, dried or juiced, and even steeped as a herbal tea.

Propagation

Gotu Kola is incredibly easy to propagate. Just snip a rooted piece of stem, replant it in moist soil, and it will take off in no time. You can also divide clumps or grow it from seed, though most gardeners stick to cuttings for speed and simplicity.

Flavour Profile

Mild, slightly bitter and earthy, somewhere between parsley and watercress. A few leaves go a long way in a salad or tea.

Culinary Uses

The fresh leaves can be chopped into salads, stir-fries, rice dishes or smoothies. In Sri Lankan cuisine, it’s famously used in “Gotu Kola Sambol,” a fresh herb salad with coconut, chilli and lime. You can also blend it into green juices or pesto, or dry the leaves for use as a herbal tea.

It’s best used raw or lightly cooked, as overcooking diminishes its benefits.

Nutrition

Gotu Kola is rich in vitamin C, A, B-complex and amino acids, and contains unique compounds called triterpenoidsthat support collagen production, cognitive function, circulation and wound healing. It’s considered a powerful adaptogen, helping the body manage stress and inflammation.

Other Uses

Beyond its food and tonic uses, Gotu Kola has been used traditionally for improving memory, calming the nervous system, healing skin, and reducing swelling. It’s often found in natural skin creams and is studied for its benefits to circulation and varicose veins.

In permaculture gardens, it works well as a living groundcover in food forests, suppressing weeds and holding moisture while providing regular harvests of nutritious greens.

Personal Tip

I grow Gotu Kola in a wide shallow pot under our citrus trees. It often creeps out and forms a lush green carpet that keeps the soil cool and moist through summer. I pick a few leaves most mornings to eat while I’m in the garden and sometimes pop them into smoothies or tuck into sandwiches with avocado.

If you’re new to the taste, start small. It’s not sweet, but it grows on you. My trick in dry spells is to give it a good soak every few days and a sprinkle of compost tea once a month. It’s super easy and it just keeps going. Bonus: the chickens love it too.