Getih-getihan is a non native herbaceous shrub plant in Indonesia. Originated from South America, it has been naturalised and widely distributed to some parts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Eastern part of Australia, and Pacific islands. In the province of Yogyakarta where I live, I often find the plant wildly grows in abandoned buildings’ yard around the urban areas, to greener and more natural areas of the province.
Here, kids often use the red coloured juice of its ripe berries as fake blood to play with, while in other countries some people use the it as cosmetic, therefore it is also called rougeplant.
Habitat
This plant is usually found growing in shady and damp areas, such as river margins, around roadside ditches, house yards, or disturbed lands of tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Usage
For traditional folks in certain countries including Indonesia, this plant is used for traditional medicine. Although, there are still many debates regarding its safety when ingested by humans, the plant’s young leaves are consumed after going through cooking process in Indonesia.
However, the roots and berries are known toxic to humans.
Personally, I’ve consumed the leaves several times after being cooked as sayur bening (clear vegetable soup). The leaves have certain aromatic taste that may not be considered palatable for most modern humans palate. So far, I have not experienced any unwanted side effect related to its debatable toxicity.
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