Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Alchemilla vulgaris
Pronounced Lady's Mantle: LAY-deez MAN-tul. Alchemilla vulgaris: al-keh-MIL-uh vul-GAIR-iss.
Cool and drying: a mild, tannin-rich astringent that binds and tightens lax, leaking, boggy tissue, checking excessive menstrual flooding, watery diarrhea, and slow-healing weeping wounds.
On temperature, Gerard (1633), Culpeper (1653) and Salmon (1710) read it as warm. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.
Avoid internal therapeutic doses in pregnancy unless supervised by a qualified practitioner. Lady's mantle carries a long traditional reputation as a uterine astringent and menstrual (emmenagogue) herb, and modern consumer references advise against its use in pregnancy on that basis and because reliable human safety data are lacking (Herbal Reality; drugs.com natural-products monograph, which advises avoidance for insufficient data). A minority of traditional herbalists give it in the final weeks to tone the uterus, but there is no controlled evidence to support routine use, so the prudent course is to avoid medicinal doses in pregnancy. NEEDS REVIEW: the exact AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed.) class for Alchemilla vulgaris could not be confirmed in this pass; verdict is anchored to the documented uterine-astringent/emmenagogue tradition and the absence of modern clinical safety data.
Insufficient modern data; avoid therapeutic doses during lactation without professional guidance. There is no reliable human safety data on Lady's mantle in breastfeeding, and its high tannin content and the same consumer references that caution against use in pregnancy also advise caution in lactation (Herbal Reality). Occasional external use (gargle, wash, compress) is not expected to be of concern, but internal medicinal use should await better data or qualified supervision.
No reliable pediatric safety data for internal therapeutic doses; use cautiously and only short-term in children, preferably under guidance. External and short-contact uses are gentler: a dilute astringent gargle or mouthwash for mouth ulcers and sore gums, and a compress or wash for minor weeping skin, are traditionally used, but the high tannin content makes strong or prolonged internal dosing unsuitable for young children. Keep internal use brief and dilute, and prefer professional guidance.
A high-tannin herb (tannins may reach around 6 to 15 percent), so large or prolonged doses can irritate the stomach, cause nausea or cramping, and, by binding, promote constipation. Because tannins chelate iron and other minerals, prolonged use can worsen iron-deficiency anemia; use short courses and separate dosing from iron supplements and mineral-rich meals by about two hours. Reserve internal therapeutic use in pregnancy and lactation for qualified supervision (see the safety fields). Its astringency checks bleeding symptomatically, so heavy or abnormal uterine bleeding must be properly investigated rather than simply suppressed.
Known sensitivity to Lady's mantle. Iron-deficiency anemia and states needing good mineral absorption (tannin chelation; short-term use only, dosed away from iron). Chronic constipation and dry, atrophic, or fluid-depleted tissue states, which its drying astringency aggravates. Internal therapeutic doses in pregnancy and lactation without professional guidance (traditional uterine-astringent/emmenagogue reputation and insufficient modern safety data). Abnormal, heavy, or intermenstrual and postmenopausal bleeding should be medically evaluated before being self-treated.
Alchemilla vulgaris (agg.) is common and widespread across temperate Europe, Asia, and naturalized in North America, and is not at risk; it is not listed by United Plant Savers. It is easily and abundantly cultivated (the ornamental A. mollis is a familiar garden plant), so cultivated or gently wildcrafted aerial parts are readily and sustainably obtained. Harvest the flowering tops and leaves in early summer, leaving ample stand to reseed; prefer cultivated or garden-grown material.
Not in the canonical biblical texts nor in the classical Greco-Roman herbals (Dioscorides, Pliny); Lady's mantle is a temperate European and Eurasian medicinal that entered the written record in the Middle Ages, not a plant of the ancient Holy Land. Its English name is a Marian devotion, 'Our Lady's mantle,' the pleated, scalloped leaf being likened to the Virgin Mary's cloak, and its Latin genus Alchemilla ('little alchemist,' from Arabic al-kimiya) reflects its medieval alchemical reputation. Cited honestly as a plant of medieval European Christian herbal tradition rather than of Scripture.
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