Showing Herbs in Category: Leaves

Neem (Kohomba): The Village Pharmacy, and the One Rule About Neem Oil (Azadirachta indica) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Neem (Kohomba): The Village Pharmacy, and the One Rule About Neem Oil

(Azadirachta indica)

Neem (Azadirachta indica) is called the village pharmacy for good reason — a single tree supplies a

Read More →
Gotukola (Centella asiatica): The Brain Herb Sri Lankans Eat for Breakfast (Centella asiatica) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Gotukola (Centella asiatica): The Brain Herb Sri Lankans Eat for Breakfast

(Centella asiatica)

Gotukola (Centella asiatica) is unusual among medicinal plants in that most Sri Lankans consume it w

Read More →
Mukunuwenna (Alternanthera sessilis): Sri Lanka's Everyday Leafy Green (Alternanthera sessilis) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Mukunuwenna (Alternanthera sessilis): Sri Lanka's Everyday Leafy Green

(Alternanthera sessilis)

Mukunuwenna (Alternanthera sessilis) is the most unassuming plant on this site and one of the most u

Read More →
Karapincha (Murraya koenigii): Curry Leaves Are Not Just Flavour (Murraya koenigii) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Karapincha (Murraya koenigii): Curry Leaves Are Not Just Flavour

(Murraya koenigii)

Karapincha (Murraya koenigii) suffers a peculiar fate: it is put into almost every Sri Lankan dish a

Read More →
Maduru Thala (Ocimum tenuiflorum): Holy Basil, Tulsi and the Mosquito Leaf (Ocimum tenuiflorum) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Maduru Thala (Ocimum tenuiflorum): Holy Basil, Tulsi and the Mosquito Leaf

(Ocimum tenuiflorum)

Maduru Thala (Ocimum tenuiflorum) carries two identities at once. To Ayurveda it is Tulsi, the elixi

Read More →
Polpala (Aerva lanata): The Traditional Kidney and Urinary Herb (Aerva lanata) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Polpala (Aerva lanata): The Traditional Kidney and Urinary Herb

(Aerva lanata)

Polpala (Aerva lanata) is a modest, woolly weed that most people would step over without noticing. I

Read More →
Wel Penela (Cardiospermum halicacabum): Balloon Vine for Joints and Skin (Cardiospermum halicacabum) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Wel Penela (Cardiospermum halicacabum): Balloon Vine for Joints and Skin

(Cardiospermum halicacabum)

Wel penela (Cardiospermum halicacabum) is easy to identify and easy to overlook: a slender vine scra

Read More →
Heen Bovitiya (Osbeckia octandra): Sri Lanka's Traditional Liver Herb (Osbeckia octandra) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Heen Bovitiya (Osbeckia octandra): Sri Lanka's Traditional Liver Herb

(Osbeckia octandra)

Heen bovitiya (Osbeckia octandra) is a plant with an unusually specific reputation. Where many herbs

Read More →
Pawatta (Justicia adhatoda): Adhatoda, the Herb Behind a Modern Cough Medicine (Justicia adhatoda) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Pawatta (Justicia adhatoda): Adhatoda, the Herb Behind a Modern Cough Medicine

(Justicia adhatoda)

Pawatta (Justicia adhatoda) has a distinction that few traditional herbs can claim. Its principal al

Read More →
Murunga (Moringa oleifera): What the Drumstick Tree Really Delivers (Moringa oleifera) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Murunga (Moringa oleifera): What the Drumstick Tree Really Delivers

(Moringa oleifera)

Murunga (Moringa oleifera) grows in the corner of countless Sri Lankan gardens, dropping long ribbed

Read More →
Lunuwila (Bacopa monnieri): Brahmi, and the Evidence for Memory (Bacopa monnieri) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Lunuwila (Bacopa monnieri): Brahmi, and the Evidence for Memory

(Bacopa monnieri)

Lunuwila (Bacopa monnieri) is unusual on this site for a straightforward reason: there are actual ra

Read More →
Monarakudumbiya (Vernonia cinerea): The Weed Studied for Quitting Smoking (Vernonia cinerea) - Sri Lankan medicinal plant
Leaves

Monarakudumbiya (Vernonia cinerea): The Weed Studied for Quitting Smoking

(Vernonia cinerea)

Monarakudumbiya (Vernonia cinerea) is a weed so ordinary that it grows through cracks in Sri Lankan

Read More →