Callisia repens (Jacq.) L.
Vernacular name: Turtle Vine, Creeping Inch Plant
Species Name: Callisia repens (Jacq.) L.
Family: Commelinaceae
Habit: Perennial creeping herb.
Stem: Slender, succulent, much-branched, prostrate, rooting at the nodes.
Leaf: Alternate, ovate to broadly elliptic, 1–4 × 0.5–2 cm, fleshy, entire, glabrous, sessile to short-petiolate; lower surface often purplish.
Flowering: Throughout the year under favourable conditions.
Flowers: Small, white, 3-petalled, borne in terminal or axillary cymes enclosed by bracts; stamens 6 with yellow anthers; ovary superior, tricarpellary.
Fruit: Small, three-valved capsule containing a few seeds.
Uses:
- Crushed leaf poultice or dried leaf infusions are used in traditional practices to treat skin irritation, stomach discomfort, cold and inflammatory ailments.
- Widely grown as an ornamental ground cover, hanging basket, and terrarium plant because of its dense trailing habit. It is valued for indoor landscaping.
- The plant also helps to reduce soil erosion when used as a ground cover as pink tinted mats fill empty spaces.
