Bugleweed (Lycopus europaeus): Traditional Uses & Safety

At a glance

Botanical name: Lycopus europaeus
Family: Lamiaceae
Part used: Aerial Parts
Taste: Bitter, slightly astringent
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Drying

No pre-1900 source found for this reading. The one old writer only supposes it, and the other says plainly that nobody before him had written anything about the plant's qualities.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Contraindicated — may interfere with fetal thyroid development (Commission E)

While breastfeeding

Contraindicated during breastfeeding — may interfere with infant thyroid function; TSH suppression transfer concerns.

For children

Contraindicated in children (developing thyroid)

Cautions

Contraindicated in hypothyroidism; may suppress TSH; do not combine with thyroid hormone therapy without specialist; abrupt discontinuation may cause rebound

General contraindications

Hypothyroidism; current thyroid hormone replacement; pituitary disease

Stewardship

Bugleweed (Lycopus europaeus / L. virginicus) is cultivated and wild in Europe and North America. Stewardship: the thyroid herb — ONLY for mild hyperthyroid — teaches the rigor of diagnosis before prescription.

In the traditional record

Bugleweed (Lycopus virginicus) — used by the Iroquois and Cherokee for fevers and hemorrhage; introduced into Eclectic practice in the early 19th century by Dr. John Skinner of Virginia and documented in King's American Dispensatory as a sedative cardiac and hemostatic, with European Lycopus europaeus also recorded by Culpeper.

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.