Iva
Iua
- Known today as
- Ajuga iva; see Arthritica.
- Kind
- Plant, in 2 older authorities
- Constituents
- iridoid glycosides, clerodane diterpenes, phytoecdysteroids
- Earliest authority here
- Dioscorides (c. AD 40–90)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
- In the Canale glossary
- On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Part Three, Chapter 9: Anointings
Revised October 1, 2026: Tradition, lore, modern assessment, and sources extended. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Iva: what did Canale use it for?
In the oil for the bewitched (ch. 9).
Iva: what does modern science say?
Some anti-inflammatory activity has been reported in the laboratory; no established effect. Extracts have lowered blood sugar in rats and show anti-inflammatory activity in the laboratory, which has drawn pharmacological interest in North Africa; nothing has been shown in people.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- iridoid glycosidesharpagide, 8-O-acetylharpagide
- clerodane diterpenesajugarins
- phytoecdysteroids
- Mechanism
- Canale’s iva is Ajuga iva, the musky bugle of the Mediterranean: in the oil for the bewitched its contribution is the scent; in North African folk medicine it is drunk for diabetes, where it lowers blood sugar in rats by an unestablished route.
- Toxic dose
- No human toxicity recorded.
- Standing
- No monograph; animal data only.
- Bouyahya, A., et al. (2020). “Ethnomedicinal use, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of Ajuga iva.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 258. Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.112875
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Iva: what lore surrounds it?
In Morocco a decoction of iva is the household remedy for fever, diabetes, and the stomach, sold in every spice market; the plant smells of pine and tastes of gall.
Iva: what did the older authorities say?
- Dioscorides
- Gives chamaipitys, the ground pine, of which iva is the southern kind, for the jaundice, the sciatica, and the womb, and it is the iva arthritica of the later Latin, the herb of the joints.
- The Arab physicians
- Prescribe shandaqūqā, the iva of the Maghreb, for fevers and the stomach, and it remains among the most used herbs of Moroccan and Algerian folk medicine.
Sources
- [13] Bouyahya, A., El Omari, N., Elmenyiy, N., Guaouguaou, F.-E., Balahbib, A., El-Shazly, M., & Chamkhi, I. (2020). Ethnomedicinal use, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of Ajuga iva (L.) Schreb. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 258: 112875. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.112875 Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.112875
- Dioscorides, De materia medica III. Read in part · the text read
- Bellakhdar, J. (1997). La pharmacopée marocaine traditionnelle. Paris: Ibis Press. Book, not indexed
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 4 cited: 1 read in part, 2 verified against its record, 1 book, not indexed. 2 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Iva.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/iva.
- MLA
“Iva.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/iva. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Iva. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/iva
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See Also
Sharing iridoid glycosides
Also in Dioscorides
Lavender in Dioscorides · Isinglass in Dioscorides · Licorice in Dioscorides · Henbane in Dioscorides · everything Dioscorides names →
Drawing on the same sources: Dioscorides, Bouyahya
Nearby in the alphabet
Jack-o’-lantern · Jalap · Iron and steel (given as filings in wine, as its rust, or in chalybeate spring waters) · James’s powder (secret in its making) · Ipecacuanha (The root of Carapichea ipecacuanha of Brazil) · Jelly ear (rubbery, ear-shaped fungus, chiefly on elder) · INRI
Historical description, not medical advice.