MOTHERWORT 



Leonurus cardiaca L. 



June - July Long after the old farm house and the. barns 



Waste places, farms, and outbuildings disappear, the evidences of 



woods man's presence remain to tell of the past. The 



lilac bush beside the old stone slab which was 

 a doorstep is still there. The star-of-bethlehem bulbs send up bright 

 green leaves and white flowers every spring. And certain weeds come up 

 every year in the enriched soil of the old barnyard. Tliere are mayweed 

 and jimsoii weed and tansy, and the rough spikes of motherwort or 

 lion's tail. 



Lion's tail is a more appropriate name, perhaps, than the uncertain 

 motherwort, chiefly because the Latin name of Leonunis literally means 

 lion's tail. The motherwort is an Old AVorld plant which traveled in the 

 devious numner of so many European weeds from their home base to 

 a new land. Although it is known as a somewhat unpleasant weed because 

 of the skin irritation which contact with its leaves and stems may cause 

 in some people, the motherwort has a degree of beauty which is imme- 

 diately noticeable. 



Here are the ridged^ four-angled stems, many-branched and all in 

 bloom. The flowers are aiTanged in tight, spiny clusters around the stem, 

 actually in the axils of the leaves but appearing in a wreath around the 

 stem from top to near the base of the plant. The flowers are small but 

 clear pink, white, or lavender, or a mixture of all three. The fuzzy little 

 flowers are constructed in the typical Mint family manner. 



The leaves are o])])osite on the stem, but each pair is set alternately 

 with the pair above and below so that all get the sun and the spreading 

 leaves make a four-sided formation when viewed from above. 



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