Rowan Remedies

leonurus-cardiaca

Latin:Leonurus cardiaca

Also Known As: Lion’s Tail, Lion’s Ear

Family:Lamiaceae

Habitat and Description: Motherwort is a tall perennial, growing to around 1.5 metres tall. The leaves are deeply toothed and mid green in colour, with deep veining. The stem is square shaped, and the flowers double lipped and deep pink in colour, growing in clusters around the stem. It grows in wild places, hedgerows and scrubland, and is often cultivated as a garden plant by herbalists – with good reason as it is very attractive and stately.

Parts Used: The leaves and flowers are used in herbal medicine, and should be harvested in the summer just as the plant comes into flower.

Constituents: Motherwort has a wide range of constituents, including, but not limited to iridoids such as leonuride; diterpenes such as leocardin; flavonoids such as rutin and alkaloids such as stachydrine, leonurine and leonurinine. Motherwort also contains tannins and plant acids. A particular alkaloid by the name of leonurine is responsible for the anti hypertensive, relaxing plant effects. flavonoid

Planetary Influence: Venus

Associated Deities and Heroes: I think that this herb would be associated with hearth deities such as Hera, for courage and steadfastness and the tendency to look after others. In my opinion it is also connected to the Mother Goddess, as it acts as a mother to others. Watch this space – this is a rather sketchy profile and I intend to do further research on this subject.

Constitution: I was unable to find much information on the constitution of Motherwort, however due to its nervine and sedative qualities, I would say it is most likely to be cooling and drying.

Actions and Indications: Motherwort is an excellent nervine and gentle sedative, particularly for heart problems connected with anxiety and stress, such as palpitations and tachycardia. The herb is antispasmodic, diaphoretic and hypotensive. It is also an excellent herb used in the treatment of women’s problems, acting as an emmenagogue to bring on delayed menses and also to ease painful ones. It can also be used to ease pre menstrual tension, and can be used to ease symptoms of the menopause. Motherwort can also be of use in lowering blood pressure through vaso-dilation. It combines well with Vervain as a relaxing nervine, using equal parts of both plants. Motherwort’s effects are gentle and cumulative, making it a useful plant to use over a long period of time. Motherwort is a fairly well known women’s herb, not only for its emmenagogue properties, but also for its use during and after childbirth as it facilitates labour and helps minimise post partum blood loss. Motherwort can also be combined with Viburnum prunifolium (Black Haw) to treat hypertension in pregnancy.

Spiritual and Energetic Uses: Motherwort is well known as the ‘herb to mother mothers’, or in other words, to aide women who spend large quantities of their energy looking after others, and keep little energy to take care of themselves with. As it is a heart herb, it could also be used to bolster courage, perhaps to help with deeply draining emotional issues. Interestingly, Motherwort drunk on a daily basis is excellent at boosting the confidence. It brings faith in ones own abilities to succeed and as a result, work harder towards goals, as well as joy in completing targets.

Folklore: Motherwort was originally used in ancient Greek medicine to treat anxiety in pregnant women, although interestingly it is contraindicated in pregnancy in modern medicine. There is some debate as to the origins of the Latin name – some herbalists believe that the name ‘cardiaca’ indicates the herb’s use in the treatment of heart problems, however an alternate theory has been proposed. This states that in actual fact, the species name is a corruption of the Latin word ‘cordiaca’ based on the use of the leaves to make a syrup or cordial.

Dose: The dosage is generally agreed to be 2-4g of dried herb three times per day, or up to 30 drops of the tincture three times per day.

Contraindications: This herb should not be taken during pregnancy.

Brought to you by Alex English at http://www.eldrumherbs.co.uk