Gotu kola is a slender herb found growing as a perennial in much of the tropics. The herb has peculiar shaped leaves, which have an almost smooth surface and are shaped like a kidney or almost heart shaped. The plant also bears dark purple flower petals; these appendages give the form of the plant somewhat of an exquisite or fragile appearance. Much of the swampy areas in tropical countries such as India and Sri Lanka, in South Africa, and the other tropical regions of the New World have thriving populations of this creeping perennial herb.