Kingdom Plantae Family Lamiaceae Scientific name Mesona chinensis Rank Species | Order Lamiales Genus Platostoma Higher classification Platostoma | |
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Similar Platostoma, Ficus pumila var awkeotsang, Taro, Adzuki bean, Tiliacora triandra | ||
Platostoma palustre, commonly known as Chinese mesona, is a species of plants belonging to the genus Platostoma of the mint family. The species grows extensively in East Asia such as south east China and Taiwan preferring ravines, grassy, dry, and sandy areas. The plants are from 15–100 cm high with hairy stems and leaves. The leaves are tear-drop shaped and serrated.
The plants are referred to as xiancao (仙草, 仙人草, 仙草舅, 涼粉草) in Mandarin Chinese, sian-chháu (仙草) in Taiwanese, leung fun cho (涼粉草) in Cantonese, sương sáo in Vietnamese, and หญ้าเฉาก๊วย in Thai.
Use, cultivation and processing
It is primarily used in making grass jelly.
P. palustre is cultivated on flat ground or areas with a slight slope. In Taiwan, this plant is often grown under fruit trees in fruits orchards as a secondary crop. The plant is processed by harvesting all the aerial portions above the root. The portions are then partially dried and piled up in order to allow them to oxidize until they have darkened. After the oxidation, they are then thoroughly dried for sale.
