Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Leonurus cardiaca
Family: Lamiaceae
Part used: Aerial Parts
Taste: Bitter
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Dry

On temperature, Gerard (1633) 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.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Limited data; caution

While breastfeeding

Contraindicated during early breastfeeding postpartum (may reduce milk via bitter action); traditional use at weaning.

For children

Avoid under 12

Cautions

Contraindicated in pregnancy (strong emmenagogue/oxytocic); bleeding disorders; hypothyroid caution

General contraindications

Contraindicated

Stewardship

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) is cultivated and weedy in temperate zones. The 'mother's wort' — a cardiovascular nervine of postpartum and perimenopausal terrain. Stewardship: a plant that has walked with women through transitions deserves careful cultivation in teaching gardens.

In the traditional record

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) — Nicholas Culpeper wrote that "there is no better herb to drive melancholy vapours from the heart, to strengthen it and make a merry, cheerful, blithe soul"; the genus name Leonurus ("lion-hearted") reflects its long European reputation as a heart-strengthening and women's tonic, and TCM employs the related Leonurus japonicus as Yi Mu Cao.

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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.