Description

Tender perennials, in temperate regions usually grown as an annual or overwintered indoors. A colony forming herb, about thirty centimeters tall, the stalks fall over and root at the tip. This plant is in the same genus as the familiar smartweed and knotweeds. Grows best in damp, rich soil.

Uses

Rau ram has a lemon and coriander-cilantro aroma. It is used both as a medicinal and a culinary herb in southeast Asia, and also in latinamerica. Rau ram is an ingredient in many southeast Asia dishes with poultry, duck eggs and du'a cân. It is best used fresh.

History and Lore

The roots of the closely related Fo-ti, Polygonum multiflorum, are used in Chinese herbal medicine as a tonic and to stimulate hair growth, where it is often combined with other herbs, such as ginseng (panax sp.).