Common names: Brahmi, Water Hyssop, Indian Pennywort, Memory Herb
Taxonomic name: Bacopa monnieri
Family: Plantaginaceae
Uses: Memory improvement, digestion
Area of origin: Across the northern hemisphere
Warnings: Can cause nausea and gastrointestinal upset.
Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) is a sprawling herb that is home in the wet, even brackish, conditions of marshes throughout Asia.
It is one of the Ayurvedic herbs that are used to improve one’s memory and may even be useful in degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Being quite bitter, it helps digestion and increases energy through stimulating the liver and gall bladder. Improving memory as well as increasing energy and general well being marks Brahmi as a herb that can help anxiety as well.
Brahmi grows well in tubs and ponds, even hanging baskets if they are kept damp. It will take partial shade or full Sun unless its at the very height of Summer. It is easily propagated by cuttings, just get a piece with a couple of roots on it and away you go.
It is a sprawling herb that can quickly take over a tub or pond. Its spreading stems have small but succulent leaves and white, star shaped, five petaled flowers. It has a distinctive taste that makes this memory herb quite memorable.
