Common Name: Periquito Sessil

General Information

Alternanthera sessilis is an erect, ascending or creeping herbaceous plant that is usually perennial, though sometimes annual, growing up to 1 metre tall[]. The plant is often widely branched, and has a robust taproot[].
The plant is often harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine[]. The leaves are often sold in local markets in Benin and Sri Lanka[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Pantropical.

Habitat

Waste and cultivated ground, especially in damp or wet conditions[]. Moist shady places at elevations up to 2,400 metres in Nepal[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual/Perennial
Height	0.30 m
Pollinators	Self
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Succeeds in sun or moderate shade[]. Prefers a loamy, alkaline soil, but can succeed in a wide range of soils[]. Plants can be grown in moist to wet soil and in shallow water[].
Alternanthera sessilis is a weed that inhabits many areas of the world. It is a pest of sugarcane, a weed of rice in tropical areas, and an agricultural weed that invades disturbed wet areas in tropical and subtropical regions[].
A rather variable plant, growing upright in drier soils, but becoming prostrate in wetter conditions with the shoots rooting at the nodes[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and tender tops - raw or cooked[, ]. Used in salads, soups and cooked as a potherb[, , , ]. It resembles spinach in flavour and appearance[].
Leaves and young shoots. They are cut into small pieces and cooked with salt and chilli, and garnished with mustard seeds, curry leaves and onions in oil[].

Flowers[].

Medicinal

The plant is said to be abortifacient, cholagogue, febrifuge and galactagogue[]. It is eaten by nursing mothers who wish to increase their milk flow[].An infusion of the entire plant is used as a remedy against intestinal cramps, fever, diarrhoea and dysentery[].
The juice of the plant is used to treat white discharge in the urine[].
The plant is used in mixtures with other medicinal plants, to treat hepatitis, tight chest, bronchitis, asthma, and lung troubles, to stop bleeding and as a hair tonic[].
It is also applied externally in the treatment of scabies, cuts and wounds, boils; and as a cooling agent to treat fever[, , ].
A paste of the plant is applied as a poultice on wounds, to draw out spines and other objects from the body, and is also used to treat VD[]. Mixed with corn flour and baked, it is eaten to treat menstrual disorders[].

The juice of the root is used in the treatment of dysuria, fevers and bloody dysentery[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Division of underground stems.
Nodal cuttings.

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