PDR for Herbal Medicines

530/MOUSE EAR PDR FOR HERBAL MEDICINES

ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY

COMPOUNDS

Flavonoids: including among others luteolin-7-glucoside,

isoetin

Hydroxycoumarins: umbelliferone, skimmine

Tannins

EFFECTS

The plant has been shown to have diuretic, spasmolytic and

diaphoretic effects.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Unproven Uses: Mouse Ear is used internally in the

treatment of asthma, bronchitis, coughs and whooping cough

and externally in the treatment of wounds.

PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS

No health hazards or side effects are known in conjunction

with the proper administration of designated therapeutic

dosages.

DOSAGE

Mode of Administration: The drug is used internally and

externally as a liquid extract.

LITERATURE

Bate-Smith EC et al., Phytochemistry 7:1165.

Duquenois P, (1965) Mem Soc Bot Franc 41.

Guerin JC, Reveillere HP, (1985) Ann Farm Franc 43(1 ):77.

Hegnauer R, Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen, Bde 1-11,

Birkhauser Verlag Basel, Boston, Berlin 1962-1997.

Kern W, List PH, Hdrhammer L (Hrsg.), Hagers Handbuch der

Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 4. AufL, Bde. 1-8, Springer Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1969.

MadausjG^Lehrbuch. der Biologischen Arzneimittel, Bde 1-3,

Nachdruck, Geprg jQlms- Verlag Hildesheim J979.^

Mucuna pruriens

See Cowhage

Mugwort

Artemisia vulgaris

DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the root and the
above-ground parts of the plant, particularly the dried branch
tips.

Flower and Fruit: The flower heads are ovoid, 3 to 4 mm
long by 2 mm wide. The numerous flowers are short-

stemmed, erect or slightly drooping. They are in dense

heavily branched panicles with numerous lanceolate bracts.

The bracts are downy white with a green midrib. The inner

bracts are lanceolate and acuminate. The outside ones are

oblong and obtuse with broad membranous margin. The

flowers are yellowish or red-brown and almost glabrous. The

inner flowers are androgynous and those on the outside are

female. The receptacle is glabrous. The fruit has an indistinct

margin.

Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is a long-stemmed, 70 to

150 cm high shrub with a branched, many-headed and

creeping rhizome without runners or rosette. The shoots are

slightly, pubescent, often red-tinged and have a weak

unpleasant smell. The erect or ascending, edged, coriaceous

stems die off each year. They are in branched panicles and

downy. The leaves are 5 to 10 cm long, coriaceous, and the

margins are often rolled back. The upper surface is usually

dark green and glabrous, occasionally pubescent, and the

lower surface is tomentose. The basal leaves are short-

petioled and lobed with an end section and 1 to 2 pairs of

small side leaflets. The rest of the leaves are sessile or almost

sessile with a slit base. The lower leaves are double-pinnate,

the middle and upper ones are pinnatifid and lanceolate,

acuminate, entire-margined or slightly serrated.

Characteristics: Mugwort has a pleasant tangy taste. The

root is sweet and pungent, the herb is aromatic and bitter.

Habitat: The plant is indigenous to Asia and North America,

and is also distributed all over Europe except in the south.

Production: Mugwort herb consists of the above-ground

parts of Artemisia vulgaris. The branch tips are gathered

during the flowering season and carefully dried. Other fresh

above- and underground parts of the plant are harvested at

the beginning of winter, primarily from the wild. Mugwort

root consists of the below-ground parts of Artemisia

vulgaris.

Not to be Confused With: Some confusion can arise with

Asinthii herba.

Other Names: Felon Herb, St. John's Plant, Wormwood

ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY

COMPOUNDS

Volatile oil (complex composition): chief constituents, ac-

cording to plant variety, 1,8- cineol, camphor, linalool or

thujone

Sesquiterpene lactones: including vulgarin, pilostachyin,

pilostachyin C

Lipophilic flavonoids

Polyynes