Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

MOTHERWORT

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Leonurus cardiaca L.

Clay County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 2-7 feet tall

Family: Lamiaceae - Mint Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Lion's-tail.

Stems:

Erect, ascending branches, glabrous to sparsely pubescent.

Leaves:

Opposite, on stalks 1/2 to 2 inches long, blades broadly egg-shaped to nearly circular in outline, 1.5 to 5 inches long, 1 to 4.5 inches wide, sparsely pubescent, veins conspicuous; larger leaves palmately 3-5 lobed, smaller blades mostly unlobed; lobes sometimes again lobed; upper leaves gradually reduced in size, narrower, 3-4 cleft; margins coarsely and irregularly toothed; tips pointed.

Inflorescences:

Spike-like, composed of dense, whorl-like clusters in leaf axils, 3-10-flowered; bracts leafy, reduced upward, uppermost mostly elliptic with 3 large teeth.

Flowers:

Calyx tubular, bell-shaped, 5-nerved, conspicuous veins within, glabrous to sparsely pubescent; teeth 5, pointed, spreading at maturity; corolla 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, longer than calyx, pink to whitish with purple spots, 2-lipped; upper lip entire, hairy above; lower lip 3-lobed; stamens 4, under upper lip; stigma 2-lobed.

Fruits:

Nutlets 4, less than .1 inch long, each 1-seeded.

Habitat:

Woodlands, waste places, low pastures, ditches, and along streams.

Distribution:

Principally the north 3/4 of Kansas.

Origin:

Introduced from Europe and Asia. Now naturalized.

Toxicity:

Contact with the leaves causes skin inflammation in some individuals.

Uses:

Native Americans used a tea made from this plant to treat stomach problems, "female ills", and as a stimulant for fainting.

Comments:

The common name "motherwort" refers to the plant's use in the past to make a tea given to mothers during child birth. Leonurus is from the Greek leon "lion" and oura "tail", probably in reference to the shape of the mature inflorescence. Grazing animals are sometimes injured by the sharp calyx teeth.

Motherwort