Family: Acanthaceae
Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophytes > Lamiales > Acanthaceae > Rostellularia > Rostellularia procumbens (L.) Nees
Common name [English]: Water willow
Vernacular name [Malayalam]: ചെറുതറുതാവൽ , പിത്തക്കൊടി
Description: Erect or decumbent herbs, branchlets strigose-hispid. Leaves to 2 x 1.5 cm, ovate or linear, apex acute, sparsely scabrous above and strigose below, lateral nerves 5-7 pairs; petiole to 2 mm long. Spike 4-8 cm, cylindric; bracts and bracteoles ovate, scarious-margined, softly hairy, 4 mm long; calyx lobes linear, margins scarious, ciliate, 4 mm long; corolla 4 mm long, pink. Capsule pubescent, 4 mm long.
Flowering and Fruiting: June - December
Uses: The herb contains a bitter alkaloid and that it is used as a substitute for Fumaria. It is alternative and expectorant and is given in the form of infusion in asthma, coughs, and rheumatism.
Cultivation: Wild
References
http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org
https://indiabiodiversity.org