Motherwort extract 12:1: Leonurus cardiaca concentrated
Motherwort is a perennial in the mint family that reaches somewhere between 60 and 120 centimetres. Its stem is squarish and clad in short hairs, often turning purplish near the nodes. The leaves are palmately lobed and roughly hairy, dark green above and paler underneath. From July to September, whorls of small pink and purple flowers sit in the leaf axils. The species grows wild across central Europe and Scandinavia and on through temperate Russia into central Asia; in North America it arrived as an introduction and has established itself locally.
Both names carry the history of the plant. Motherwort, the mother plant, points to its traditional place in herbalism around women and childbirth, while the species epithet cardiaca points at the heart. European herbals of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Gart der Gesundheit among them, already describe it at length. The herb tastes distinctly bitter and has also served as a seasoning in soups and in brewing. Its aerial parts hold iridoids, the alkaloids leonurine and stachydrine, flavonoids such as hyperoside and rutin, tannins and a small amount of volatile oil.
What 12:1 means
In a 12:1 extract, twelve grams of plant material have been reduced to one gram of extract, so you need considerably less of it than of the loose herb. This jar holds 3 grams. Most extracts in this category are powders meant for tea: dissolve a small amount in hot water and let it steep for a few minutes. Start modestly, because motherwort is properly bitter and the taste stays with you. A spoonful of honey or a splash of apple juice makes it far easier to drink.
Storage and good to know
Keep the jar cool, dry and dark, and out of reach of young children. Motherwort has long been counted among the herbs to leave alone during pregnancy. If you take medication, are pregnant or are breastfeeding, speak to your doctor first. The same category at Avalon Magic Plants holds dozens of other extracts, among them damiana 10:1, ginkgo biloba 10:1, wild dagga 20X, calea zacatechichi 10X and pink lotus 50X.
