Comfrey, Vervain and Mints 215Leonurus cardiaca Linnaeus
motherwort
Europe; introduced into North America, New Zealand
A scarcely naturalised, cottage garden herb, reputedly introduced into Britain
in the Middle Ages,Leonurus cardiaca features in folk medicine records
apparently uniquely in the Isle of Man. There it has formed a ‘gender pair’
with vervain (Verbena officinalis),^86 regarded as the counterpart of that as a
general protective against female ills, more particularly those associated with
the womb and menstruation. It was grown in Manx gardens as a tonic at least
to the 1940s.^87 Its similarity in appearance to that other long-venerated
‘mother’ plant, mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), suggests that it may have
become a stand-in for that.
Lamium album Linnaeus
white dead-nettle, archangel
Europe, Himalaya, Japan; introduced into North America, New Zealand
Though so common and generally distributed in much of England,Lamium
album appears to be unknown in natural habitats in the British Isles and has
long lain under suspicion of having anciently been introduced, perhaps for
food (it was at one time eaten extensively by peasants in Sweden). In Co.
Dublin its distribution closely coincides with the known sites of early Nor-
man settlements, while in parts of Wales an association with Roman way-
stations has been postulated. It must be considered doubtful whether it was
available for use anywhere in the British Isles prehistorically.
The few records suggest that the species has never enjoyed much popu-
larity in the British Isles as a folk medicine. The ailments for which it has
been used, moreover, are curiously diverse: skin complaints in Norfolk^88 and
one region of north-western Eire^89 (where mixed with mutton suet it has
been made into an ointment for treating eczema in adults), arthritis or sciat-
ica in Norfolk^90 and Dumfriesshire,^91 bleeding and deep cuts in Somerset^92
and South Uist in the Outer Hebrides—and in this last also, sore feet and
toothache.^93 None of these corresponds to uses for which the plant is recom-
mended in at least some current books of herbal cures.
Lamium purpureum Linnaeus
red dead-nettle
Europe, western Asia; introduced into North America, Australasia
An infusion ofLamium purpureum,in a quart of wine, has been drunk in