Toothache Plant Spilanthes acmella
LATIN NAME: Spilanthes acmella
COMMON NAME: Toothache Plant
The toothache plant is the little herb that numbs the tongue, and the whole plant gives its fine, sharp bite. The low, sprawling, annual plant carries the toothed, deep-green leaves and the small, round, dome-shaped, golden-yellow and red flower heads with the fine, spiky look, opening through the summer. The plant has a very long record in the old practice of the warm regions, and the flower heads are a fine, cheerful presence of the border, the pot and the herb garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The toothache plant is a curious, useful subject of the plant science, studied for the dome-shaped flower heads and the chemistry of the bite. The compounds of the flower heads and the leaves, which have a very long record in the old practice of the warm regions, have been looked at closely, and it keeps showing up in the work on the medicinal herbs, the bioactive plants and the members of the daisy family. The toothed leaves and the low, sprawling habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the toothache plant is a regular subject of the studies of the numbing herbs of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The toothache plant is a small, cheerful plant with a long record in the old practice. The round, dome-shaped, golden-yellow and red flower heads open through the summer, and the flower heads and the leaves carry the fine, sharp, numbing bite that has a very long record in the old practice of the warm regions, where the plant was kept for the mouth and the gums. The plant is a fine, easy presence of the border, the pot and the herb garden, and the flower heads are a bright, curious sight along the way. It has been written up in the botanical and the herbal papers for the dome-shaped heads and the very long record of use, and it is a fine, easy plant of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.
The toothache plant is one of the old numbing herbs of the warm regions, and the round, dome-shaped, golden-yellow and red flower heads carry the fine, sharp bite. The plant was kept for the mouth and the gums in the old practice.
To grow the toothache plant from seed, sow the fine seeds over the surface of pots of moist, free-draining soil, without covering them, keep the pots in a bright, warm spot and water gently. The seedlings show themselves within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun, the warmth and the well-drained ground, the golden domes will open through the summer.
Common name:Acmella oleracea seeds
Uses: Culinary / Medicinal
Treatment of toothaches. Also used as an antibiotic against candida. The fresh leaves are edible and are eaten like cress.