Hedyotis diffusa seeds
LATIN NAME: Hedyotis diffusa
COMMON NAME: Snake-needle Grass
The snake-needle grass is the low, white-flowered herb of the damp field, and the tiny, white, four-petalled flowers open along the spreading stems. The low, spreading, annual or perennial plant carries the small, opposite, linear leaves and the small, white or pale-pink, four-petalled flowers in the axillary pairs through the warm season, to be followed by the small, rounded capsules. The plant has a long record in the old practice of the warm East as the cooling herb of the fever, and it is a fine, quiet presence of the damp garden and the wild patch. It is a plant of the open, sunny to partly shaded, moist ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The snake-needle grass is a quiet, old subject of the plant science, and the white pairs keep showing up in the work on the old herbal plants. The chemistry of the plant, which has a long record in the old practice of the warm East, has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the traditional herbs, the cooling plants and the members of the madder family. The opposite, linear leaves and the low, spreading habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the snake-needle grass is a regular subject of the work on the quiet old herbs of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The snake-needle grass is a fine, quiet plant of the damp garden and the wild patch. The small, white or pale-pink, four-petalled flowers open in the axillary pairs through the warm season, one of the fine, low sights of the damp field, and the plant has a long record in the old practice of the warm East as the cooling herb of the fever. The low, spreading habit makes it one of the fine choices for the damp border, the wild patch and the traditional herb collection, and the fine stems weave into the soft, green mat of the moist ground. It has been written about in the botanical and the herbal papers for the white pairs and the long record of use, and it is a fine, quiet plant of the open, sunny to partly shaded, moist garden.
Keep the ground moist in the dry spells and the plants will spread into the fine, low green mat through the warm season.
To grow the snake-needle grass from seed, sow the small, round seeds across the surface of a pot of damp seed compost, with a light press, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings are up within a couple of weeks and spread fast. With the sun or the light shade and the moist ground, the white pairs will open through the warm season.
Hedyotis diffusa is a kind of herb used in traditional Chinese medicine.