Leonurus sibiricus
| Leonurus sibiricus | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 3' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Leonurus sibiricus (common name: chinese motherwort)
Propagation: Seed - sow late spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
Cultivation: Prefers a well-drained moist soil in sun or partial shade[1]. Prefers a poor soil[2].
Plants are hardy to at least -15°c[1].
There is some confusion over the correct name for this species, it should quite probably be called L. japonicus.
Range: E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea, Siberia.
Habitat: Stony and steppe slopes, pine forests and occasionally as a weed of cultivated land[3]. By the sea shore and along the margins of marshes and pools[4].
Edibility: Young shoots - cooked[5][6][7]. A sweetish flavour[8].
Root - cooked with other foods[6][7]. This probably means that it is used as a flavouring[K].
Medicinal: Chinese motherwort is unusual amongst Chinese herbs in that it is often prescribed for use on its own and not in a mixture with other plants[1]. The whole plant is antibacterial, antispasmodic, astringent, cardiac, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, hypnotic, nervine, oxytocic, stomachic, tonic, uterine stimulant[9][10][11][12][13][14][4][15][16]. The seeds have a similar action to the plant, but are a less effective diuretic and depurative[1]. The plant is used in the treatment of painful and excessive menstruation, post-partum bleeding, oedema, kidney complaints, kidney stones, eczema and abscesses[1][17]. A tincture is used in the treatment of rheumatic fever[15]. The plant stimulates uterine contractions and should not therefore be used when in the earlier stages of pregnancy[17]. The plant is harvested when in flower but before the seeds have set, and is dried for later use[1].
The plant contains about 0.05% of an alkaloid called leonurine[17]. This has a curare-like effect on the motor-endings of the nervous system, acting in small doses as a stimulant to the respiratory system but in large doses causing respiratory paralysis[17].
Usage: Yields an essential oil[12]. No more details are given.
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: See the notes under medicinal uses.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association, 1981.
- ↑ Komarov, Vladimir. Flora of the USSR. Gantner Verlag, 1968.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Mills, Simon. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
- ↑ Kariyone, Tatsuo. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Emboden, William. Narcotic Plants. Studio Vista, 1979.
- ↑ Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea. World Health Organisation, 1998.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.