Baogai Grass, also known as Centella asiatica, belongs to the Apiaceae family. It is commonly found along roadsides, forest edges, marshy grasslands, and near houses. It can also be a weed in fields, with a distribution range that extends to elevations of up to 4000 meters in Europe and Asia.
Baogai Grass Root: The roots are cylindrical and thin, with a light brown surface.
Baogai Grass Stem: The stems are erect or creeping, with branching at the base. They are quadrangular with shallow grooves, and can be purple or deep blue in color. They are initially covered with short, downward-pointing hairs, which gradually fall off. The plant can reach a height of 10-30cm.
Baogai Grass Leaves: The leaves are rounded or kidney-shaped, measuring 0.5-2cm in length and 1.2-2.5cm in width. The apex is rounded, while the base is truncate or cordate. The margins have deep rounded teeth or shallow lobes, and both sides of the leaf have sparse rough hairs. The lower leaves have long stalks, while the upper leaves are nearly stalkless and partially clasp the stem.
Baogai Grass Flowers: The umbel inflorescence bears 6-10 nearly stalkless flowers. The bracts are lanceolate or diamond-shaped, with hairy margins. The corolla is 1.2-1.8cm long, ranging from purple-red to pink in color. The outer surface of the corolla, except for the upper lip which is densely covered with short, purple-red hairs, is either sparsely hairy or hairless. The ovary is hairless.
Baogai Grass Fruits: The small achene is inversely ovate or inversely triangular, with 3 ribs and measures 2mm in length and 1mm in width. It is light grayish-yellow in color and has large, white warty protuberances on its surface.
Baogai Grass Seeds: They are 0.5-1mm long.
Baogai Grass is considered a weed, and there have been studies on its reproductive mechanism. It has been found that most weeds have a mechanism of self-pollination for reproduction.
The majority of Baogai Grass seeds are produced through self-pollination, but there is also a portion that results from cross-pollination. Self-pollination may be important for plants to ensure reproductive success when colonizing new habitats.
On the other hand, cross-pollination allows for genetic recombination, resulting in offspring with a more diverse genotype. This plays a crucial role in the adaptation of plant offspring to different environments.
Therefore, the combination of cross-pollination and self-pollination may be the main factor contributing to the success of Baogai Grass as a weed.
