A: Eclipta prostrata	B: Torenia crustacea	C: Leptopetalum biflorum
Fig. 1: The small pot that housed the 3 small wayside flowers as of 5 October. The images of their flowers (A, B, C) were photographed on 12 October, 9 October and 28 September respectively.

The small pot (Fig. 1) containing the Leptopetalum biflorum (Twoflower Mille Graines) featured in last week’s post also held two small wayside flowers: Eclipta prostrata (False Daisy) and Torenia crustacea (Brittle False Pimpernel). I had transferred the Eclipta prostrata seedling from another pot after mistaking it for a different plant, while the Torenia crustacea germinated spontaneously from a seed previously buried in the soil. All three plants had begun flowering.

I first wrote about a potted Eclipta prostrata in December 2015, followed by a November 2020 post focusing on related publications. I am confident that the seedling that recently appeared in my pot grew from a seed deposited in the soil in 2016. After checking related publications again on the PubMed website, I found that this medicinal plant remains a popular research subject, judging by the number of publications over the years.

Four articles [1-4] comparing Eclipta prostrata and Eclipta alba, none of which were available on PubMed, caught my attention. Because Eclipta alba is a synonym of Eclipta prostrata, comparing them as separate species seemed odd. The first three publications were specific studies, whereas the latest was a review. I had mentioned two of them [2, 3] in my November 2020 post. I compared all four publications using several points of interest (Table 1).

During an online search in November 2020, I found on the CABI Digital Library website that Eclipta alba had been designated a synonym of Eclipta prostrata in 1981. The information was free then but now requires payment. Interestingly, Plants of the World Online lists 110 synonyms for Eclipta prostrata, perhaps reflecting the plant’s long-standing prominence among botanists. By comparison, Leptopetalum biflorum has only 18 synonyms.

Of the four publications, the 2026 paper [4] was the most intriguing because it showed images of Eclipta alba with yellow flowers and listed the species’ flower colour as “white/yellow”. However, the yellow-flowered plant appeared to be another species, Sphagneticola trilobata (Trailing Daisy). Although the article included a brief taxonomy section, it did not mention that Eclipta alba is synonymous with Eclipta prostrata.

I doubt the authors examined a fresh specimen of the yellow-flowered “Eclipta alba” while preparing the publication. Although Sphagneticola trilobata and Eclipta prostrata both belong to the family Asteraceae, their overall appearances differ considerably. As viewed on iNaturalist on 18 October 2026, Singapore had 121 observations of Eclipta prostrata and 357 observations of Sphagneticola trilobata. The latter may attract more observations because it is larger and has more conspicuous yellow flowers than the much smaller, white-flowered Eclipta prostrata.

I do not plan to keep the Eclipta prostrata in my pot for long because it is readily available in the wild. I will keep the Torenia crustacea until I can photograph its tiny seeds. As it is already flowering, the seeds should appear soon.

Reference:

[1] Muruganantham S, Anbalagan G, Ramamurthy N, Anbalagan S. FT-IR and SEM-EDS comparative analysis of medicinal plants, Eclipta Alba Hassk and Eclipta Prostrata Linn. Romanian J Biophys 2009;19:285-294. | Read article |

[2] Kim I, Park JY, Lee YS, Lee HO, Park HS, Jayakodi M, Waminal NE, Kang JH, Lee TJ, Sung SH, Kim KY, Yang TJ. Discrimination and authentication of Eclipta prostrata and E. alba based on the complete chloroplast genomes. Plant Breed Biotech 2017;5:334-343. | Read article |

[3] Nguyen TT, Choonate S, Puengsurin D, Srichan R, Mala S, Surarit R. Effects of Eclipta prostrata and Eclipta alba on survival, proliferation, migration of periodontal ligament cell. M Dent J 2016;36:165-173. | Read abstract |

[4] Sohe NN, John Nannepaga S, Ahmad WANW, Sarbon NM, Shaik MI. A review on the phytochemicals of Eclipta prostrata and Eclipta alba: antioxidants and antidiabetic activities. Pharmacological Research - Natural Products 2026;10:100483. | Read article |