The Leaf in the Ledger: How a Colonial Herbarium Specimen From Madagascar Became a Modern Skincare Staple in India

Centella asiatica entered the botanical record through the ledgers of empire. In the early 19th century, French botanists working in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean archipelago began collecting specimens of the creeping herb, cataloging its presence in humid riverbanks and rice fields. One such specimen, now held in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) herbarium in Paris, was collected in Madagascar in 1963 by the Service Forestier de Madagascar and preserved as P00508678 in the vascular plants collection. Its label reads: “P.k.100 De La Route Tananarive–Moramanga,” a precise geographic marker linking a living plant to a colonial road and a modern nation’s capital.

That specimen is one of thousands that trace the plant’s journey from highland cure to global commodity. While Centella asiatica is native to Asia, Madagascar emerged as a key node in its 20th-century botanical and commercial migration. A 1949 collaboration between Malagasy scientist Professor Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga and French pharmaceutical company Laroche-Navarron Laboratories led to the development of Madecassol, a standardized extract used in wound healing. The project relied on chromatographic analysis of the plant’s active compound, asiaticoside, a triterpenoid first isolated from Centella asiatica in Madagascar and later standardized for therapeutic use.

Today, that same lineage is preserved in modern formulations. At Dr. Rumika’s Apothecary, the SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule 55ml and SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule Foam 125ml draw on extracts harvested in Madagascar — a continuity from herbarium to hand, from colonial collection to contemporary care.

But the story is not only scientific. It is also human. In Madagascar, the wild collection of Centella asiatica supports the livelihoods of approximately 50,000 pickers, mostly women, who harvest the plant from riverbanks and wetlands. A 2024 policy brief by TRAFFIC notes that Madagascar is home to over 14,000 plant species, 85% of which are endemic, and that 4,000 are used medicinally — Centella asiatica among them. The trade, however, remains precarious: harvesters are often paid between 47 and 50 USD per month, far below the national minimum wage, underscoring the need for ethical sourcing and fair compensation in the modern beauty supply chain.

The plant’s journey reflects a broader pattern in global botanical trade: from oral tradition to colonial herbarium, from laboratory synthesis to luxury skincare. Each step is recorded — not just in ledgers, but in the DNA of the plant itself. A 2013 study published in ScienceDirect examined the polyploid complexity of Centella asiatica in Madagascar, revealing genetic diversity that may explain its adaptability across continents. Meanwhile, research by Rakotondralambo et al. (2012), cited in American Journal of Botany, isolated microsatellite markers from wild Malagasy Centella, offering tools for conservation and quality control in commercial cultivation.

At Dr. Rumika’s, the Madagascar connection is honored not in marketing claims, but in provenance. The SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Toning Toner 210ml and SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Soothing Cream 75ml carry the legacy of a plant once pressed between colonial herbarium sheets, now applied to contemporary skin with care that transcends trend.

The ledger is closed. The plant remains.