| Gnaphalium affine | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Gnaphalieae |
| Genus: | Gnaphalium |
| Species: | G. affine |
Gnaphalium affine D. Don, also known as Jersey Cudweed, is a species of plants belonging to the genus Gnaphalium. The species grows extensively in East Asia including temperate regions of China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan as well as some high altitude tropical regions of India, Nepal, and Thailand [1]
The grass is biennial, with stems 15–40 cm long, the surface of the plant is covered with fine woolly hair and the leaves are small and rounded. The flowers appear as small florets with petal around 2 mm long.[2]
In Chinese this grass is known as "鼠麹草", in Japanese it is known as "ハハコグサ" or "母子草"". G. affine is one of the herbs consumed in the Japanese spring festival Nanakusa-no-sekku (seven-herbs festival). In Vietnam, it is named rau khúc.
This grass has been used traditionally in Traditional Chinese medicine and also features in the cuisine of East Asian Countries namely in sweet rice confections. They include the Japanese Kusa mochi and the Taiwanese chhú-khak-ké (鼠麹粿, 草仔粿).
The grass is also ground up and used to give noodles and green onion pancakes (蔥油餅) a distinctive green colour and a unique flavour.[3]
This is an ingredient for a kind of xôi- xôi khúc in Vietnam and people usually use it for treatment of common cough.