Cotula, Waterbuttons, Bachelors’ buttons, Buttonweeds

Cotula Scientific Classification
Culinary and Medicinal Uses

Cotula is a genus of flowering plant that belongs to the sunflower family including plants known as buttonweeds or water buttons. The species belongs to the genus that varies extensively in habit, leaf division, receptacle, and achenes. The genus is defined by viewing at corollas of the flowers. Most are disciform which lacks ray florets. The corollas are tubular, reduced, and even absent. Another characteristic is it has solitary heads that grow on peduncles.

Cotula is soft annual herb that reaches 40-50 cm high. The plant bears alternate, finely divided leaves about 5-6 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide and obovate to oblanceolate. Stems are much-branched usually 20 cm long and 1-2 mm wide. The flowers are pale yellow to cream and about 4-5 mm in diameter. The plant blooms from winter to spring season. Flowers are then followed by flattened fruits usually about 1-1.5 mm long.

Name	Cotula
Scientific Name	Cotula
Native	South Africa
Name in Other Languages	English: Waterbuttons, Bachelors’ buttons, Buttonweeds; Swedish: Kotulor, romersk kamomill; Norwegian Bokmål: Fjæreknappslekta; Nynorsk, Norwegian: Fjøreknappslekta; Arabic: babonaj Romani, babanaq Itri, babanq Romani, babanaq shareef; English: chamomile, corn chamomile, common chamomile, English chamomile, Noble chamomile, Garden chamomile, Russian chamomile, Roman chamomile, Sweet chamomile; French: camomille romaine; German: römische Kamille; Spanish: manzanilla fina, camomila de jardín, manzanilla romana
Plant Growth Habit	Soft annual herb
Plant Size	40-50 cm
Stem	Much branched, usually 20 cm long, 1-2 mm wide
Leaf	Alternate, finely divided, 5-6 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, obovate to oblanceolate
Flowering Season	Winter to Spring (July to October)
Flower	Pale-yellow to cream, 4-5 mm diameter
Fruit shape & size	Flattened, 1-1.5 mm long

Cotula Scientific Classification

Scientific Name: Cotula

Rank	Scientific Name & (Common Name)
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)
Subkingdom	Viridiplantae (Green plants)
Infrakingdom	Streptophyta (Land plants)
Superdivision	Embryophyta
Division	Tracheophyta (Vascular plants, tracheophytes)
Class	Magnoliopsida
Order	Asterales
Family	Asteraceae (Sunflowers, tournesols)
Genus	Cotula L. (Waterbuttons, water buttons)
Synonyms	Baldingeria Neck. Cenia Comm. ex Juss. Cotyla Kuntze & Post Ctenosperma Hook.f. Gymnogyne Steetz Laggera Sch.Bip. ex Walp. Lancisia Fabr. Lancisia Lam. Machlis DC. Otochlamys DC. Peyrousea DC. Pleione K.Koch Strongylosperma Less.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses

In Peru, the herb is used for flavoring dishes.
Flowers are used to preparing herbal tea.
It is used to treat various health ailments such as diarrhea, cough, colic, rheumatism, digestive disorders, urinary and pulmonary infections, headaches and fevers.
Use the cold infusion for gastric debility with flatus.
Hot infusion is used as diaphoretic and emetic to provide relief from colds due to sudden cutaneous chilling.
It decreases pain in dysmenorrhea.
The oil is used as carminative and for colic and intestinal cramps.

References