''Elsholtzia ciliata'', commonly known as Vietnamese balm, xiang ru (香薷) or ''kinh giới'' in Vietnamese, is a plant native to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. In the US, it can go by the name Crested Late Summer Mint. In US Vietnamese grocery stores, it is called Kinh Gioi, Vietnamese Lemon Balm, or Vietnamese Lemon Mint.

Distribution

The plant is native to

. However, the exact extent of its original range is unclear. Today it is found through much of India, eastern Asia, and Europe. It grows throughout Nepal at elevations of 1500 to 3400 m.

Description

''Elsholtzia ciliata'' is an erect herb that grows to about 60 cm in height. The leaves are long, stalked, and serrated, and reach 2 to 8.5 cm in length and 8 to 2.5 cm in width. In shape, they are ovate to lanceolate, with a gland-dotted underside. Flowers of a purple color bloom in flat spikes in September and October. Seeds propagate within them.

Uses

''Elsholtzia ciliata'' has many cultural uses.

Culinary

It is used in

Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages of Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes ( vi, ngũ vị, links=no, label=none): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish refle ...

, where it is called ''rau kinh giới'' or ''lá kinh giới''. The leaves are used to flavor meat dishes, soups, and salads with a lemony flavor. The seeds are sometimes powdered and used for flavoring food.

Traditional medicine

It is used common in herbal medicine, as it is considered to be carminative and

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pla ...

. In

Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

, it is known as ''xiang ru (香薷)'' or ''aromatic madder'' and is used for stomach problems, to induce sweating, and also for halitosis.

Cultivation

It is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

. It prefers moist soil, and grows mostly on exposed rocky slopes and other open, gravelly areas.Monachino, Joseph (1958). ''Elsholtzia ciliata in New York''. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Torrey Botanical Society. Propagated by both seeds and rhizomes. It is banned in the state of Connecticut and classified as an noxious weed in 46 states. it was first reported in the Americas as a weed in 1889.

Gallery

File:香薷 20190928171029 03.jpg, Growing in Shangri-La, Yunnan province, China File:香薷 20190928171029 01.jpg, Growing in Shangri-La, Yunnan province, China File:香薷 20190928171029 02.jpg, Growing in Shangri-La, Yunnan province, China

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1357371 Lamiaceae Flora of temperate Asia Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Indo-China Garden plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Asia Plants described in 1784