Descriptions

It is an erect annual herbaceous plant. The plant has a slender, fibrous root system and a quadrangular, green, and smooth stem that is branched with ascending and opposite branches. The leaves are opposite, decussate, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2-12 cm long, and 1-3 cm wide with entire margins and a dark green color above and lighter beneath. The plant produces terminal or axillary racemes or panicles with small, bisexual, zygomorphic flowers. These flowers are white with purple markings, featuring a tubular corolla split into two lips, and two stamens. The fruit is a linear-oblong capsule, 1-2 cm long, containing numerous small, brownish seeds.

Flowering & Fruiting Period

September- March

Use(s)

Decoction of the leaf is used in diabetes and malaria.