Updated 4 January 2024
Other botanical names
- Alchemilla xanthochlora Rothm, Alchemilla acutiloba Opiz
Common names
- Alchemilla (common), Lion's foot, Griffon's foot, Rabbit's foot
- Alchemists' plant
Common origins
- France (excluding Mediterranean), Europe, North America, Asia
Botanical classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Rosales
- Family: Rosaceae
- Genus: Alchemilla
Components
- Tannins: ellagic acid, etc.
- Flavonoids
- Essential oils
- Bitter principles
- Proanthocyanidols
- Mineral salts: potassium
- Vitamins E and F
Parts used
- Aerial parts
Organoleptic properties
- Odour: neutral
- Flavour: bitter, astringent
Properties
Internal use
- Astringent
- Stomachic
- Mild antispasmodic
- Depurative
- Diuretic
- Haemostatic
- Decongestant
- Venoconstrictor
- Progesterone-like, regulates luteal insufficiency
External use
- Skin tonic
- Astringent
- Anti-inflammatory
- Healing
- Antipruritic
Indications
Internal use
- Inflammation of the digestive mucosa of the stomach and intestines
- Colitis
- Diarrhoea
- Menstrual bleeding
- Dysmenorrhoea
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Metrorrhagia (especially premenopausal)
- Leucorrhoea
- Prevention of fibroids
- Endometriosis
- Childbirth (facilitates childbirth)
- Menopause
- Venous insufficiency
- Heavy legs
- Haemorrhoids (especially during menstruation)
External use
- Stretch marks
- Cellulite
- Wounds
- Itching
- Inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes
- Oral hygiene
- Leucorrhoea
Precautions / Contraindications
- None known at recommended doses.
- Constipation
Interactions
- None known at recommended doses.
How to use / Current dose
Internal use
- As an infusion: 30 g per litre of water, infuse for 10 minutes, drink 2 to 3 cups a day for diarrhoea or gynaecological problems 10 to 15 days before and during menstruation.
- Mother tincture, liquid extract, EPS: recommended from the middle of the female cycle (day 10 to 14) until menstruation, at a dose of 50 to 100 drops of TM per day or 10 to 60 drops of liquid extract (more concentrated); 50 drops of liquid extract in the morning and evening for premenopausal syndrome with uterine fibroids and a tendency to genital bleeding.
External use
- As a compress (decoction): boil for 2-3 minutes, infuse for 10 minutes, apply locally 2 to 3 times a day for cellulite or stretch marks (can be combined with ivy and horsetail).
- As a gel or cream: for stretch marks and cellulite.
- As a sitz bath (decoction diluted 10%): for vulvar itching and leucorrhoea.
- As a gargle (decoction): for mouth ailments.
Find out more
- It is often combined with other plants with progesterone-enhancing properties, such as yarrow, ryegrass, white mullein and especially the anti-oestrogen yarrow.
Additional information
Habitat and botanical description
This herbaceous perennial grows between 10 and 30 cm tall. Its simple, yellow-green leaves are palmate (7 to 11 lobes), finely toothed and whitish underneath. The small apical flowers with yellowish-green calyces are grouped in cymes. The fruits are achenes.
It is common in damp meadows and pastures (it has been known to feed cattle and increase milk production in cattle and goats), in the mountains, but also in uncultivated areas.
Harvest time
The aerial parts are harvested during flowering, from late spring to late summer, preferably when the leaves are young, before drying.
Mythology / History / Anecdotes and traditional virtues
Considered a sacred plant, Alchemilla owes its name to the alchemists who collected the "celestial water", the dewdrops (the dew associated with the moon was considered to be the result of the condensation of earthly and celestial vapours and a symbol of the alchemical marriage) that formed in the hollow of the leaf, a very pure water necessary for their preparations and used in particular in the preparation of the philosopher's stone.
The sumptuous and elegant appearance of its leaves earned it the nickname of "the cloak of Notre Dame".
In Dioscorides' De materia medica, alchemilla root mixed with wine was recommended for internal and external wounds, and the aerial part was infused to treat fractures in children. Considered a panacea for the female organs, it was traditionally said to cure female sterility, strengthen the genitals of women who wished to pass themselves off as virgins and restore firmness to tired breasts.