Motherwort & God's Pharmacy

Now here's a plant that's been growing here for years, around remnants of old buildings on our farmstead, but I never bothered to learn about it before now.

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Its name is Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca, a member of the mint family. There is no entry for it in my two prairie plant books, but it is listed in the Peterson Field Guide, Wildflowers: Northeastern/NorthCentral North America, (1968), by Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny.

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Its name, Motherwort, may be related to the fact that this plant contains a chemical which causes smooth muscle contractions and may have been used after childbirth to help the uterus to contract prevent hemorrhage. Its scientific name, Leonurus cardiaca, means roughly "lion-hearted", for the chemical will also strengthen heart muscle contractions.

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Perhaps a midwife lived on this farm at one time and used this plant in her work. I'm sure there were many such women around. Its a challenge to roll my thoughts backwards and try to imagine a world in which women were on their own when it came to birthing babies. Spending time in old cemeteries, reading tombstones, is informative and enlightening........many women and babies didn't survive childbirth.

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Apparently, according to the prairie books, there are plants which were used long ago for their contraceptive capabilities, or to enhance human fertility. Quite amazing, maybe, to think of God creating plants with these purposes. With childbirth being so risky in former times, its not difficult to understand why people would search for a way to prevent pregnancy. And, sadly, too, there have always been some folks who have difficulty reproducing or are never able to.

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In the photo below, where the Motherwort leaves meet the stem, can you see the prickly-looking bunch? It IS very sharp and prickly! And, I think that little cross or X inside each prickle is interesting. You can see that clearest in the lowest bunch. Click the photo to see it larger.

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Here's a nice close-up of motherwort flower . Maybe someday if I ever mature in my photography, I could get a macro-lens to take close-ups of flower and plant parts. That would be fun!! Countrygirl does a fabulous job of doing that, showing stunning scenes in one of her recent blogposts.

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Plants Database from the USDA also lists Motherwort.

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Here's a fascinating e-mail message I just received.........it talks about the relationship between certain fruits and vegetables and the parts of the human body they resemble (There were pictures of the foods, but they did not copy and paste. If you would like this message forwarded to you in its entirety, send me an e-mail at

junebug1976@hotmail.com ):

Subject: FW: God's Pharmacy
It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish... all before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow learners...God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body!God's Pharmacy! Amazing!A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility. Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.Psalm 46:19 'Be Still and Know that I AM GOD'

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