Birthwort (Aristolochia clematitis)
Flowers: June. Height: Up to 100cm (40in).
It was introduced to the British Isles from Continental Europe, during the Middle Ages, as a plant for medicinal purposes. The active substance was derived from its rhizomes (swollen roots). It was regularly grown in medieval herb gardens, especially those of monastic establishments.
Medicinal: Birthwort is one of the old healing plants already in use by ancient Egyptians and later by Hippocrates, Theophrast, Dioscorides and Pliny. It was used for treating ulcers, fevers and snakebite. The ancient Egyptian name for the plant translates as anti-snake. As the name suggests, its main use was for aiding childbirth. Lonicerus wrote in his 1564 herb book Kreuterbuch that “every woman in childbed should drink this herb and root.”
