Goosegrass

Goosegrass (Eleusine indica) is an annual grass of the Poaceae family, with soft sprawling stems, highly branched, forming dense mats. Leaf sheaths and blades are narrow and long, margins slightly rough, pale green; roots sprout from lower nodes. The inflorescence is 2–5 straight spikes arranged digitately along a short axis — a key ID. Seeds are small and kidney-shaped. It grows vigorously on bare ground, fallows, field edges and paths across Vietnam, especially in the rainy season. Young shoots are picked as a green vegetable.

In Vietnamese folk cuisine, young goosegrass shoots are cooked in soup (with shrimp or minced beef), stir-fried or made into salads. In traditional medicine the whole plant is used to reduce fever, detoxify, promote urination and as a poultice for wounds and boils. It is also fed to young livestock. Although a common agricultural weed, in many rural areas goosegrass is valued as a wild green, both for food and folk remedies.