European motherwort (naturalized throughout U.S.) and its Chinese counterpart are valued for their sedative, antispasmodic, emmenagogic, cardiotonic, hypotensive, and astringent properties. Tea is used for postpartum depression and for its uterotonic effects after childbirth. Used all over the world for menstrual disorders. Said to be sedative; used for insomnia, neuralgia, sciatica, spasms, fevers, and stomachaches. Interestingly, well-hailed for a ward against “wicked spirits”.
References:
Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
Grieve, M. (Maud). A Modern Herbal; the Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. New York :Harcourt, Brace & company, 1931.
Image attribution: D. Gordon E. Robertson - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26208666
