Lady’s mantle

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Lady’s mantle

Alchemilla; pes leonis, lion’s foot

Known today as: Alchemilla vulgaris and its kin, of the rose family, with pleated, scalloped leaves that hold a bead of dew at the centre.
Kind: Plant, in 1 older authority
Constituents: agrimoniin, pedunculagin, quercetin glycosides
Earliest authority here: Its English name
In other databases: Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search

Lady’s mantle: what was it used for?

A wound herb and an astringent, and above all a herb of women: for heavy bleeding, and, in the old herbals, to restore what childbirth had loosened.

Lady’s mantle: what does modern science say?

Rich in tannins, which explain its astringency; there is no good trial of its gynaecological uses.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

agrimoniin ChEMBLan ellagitannin; 6–8 per cent tannins
pedunculagin ChEMBL
quercetin glycosides

Mechanism

Astringent by its tannins, which stop small bleeding and tighten the gut and skin; nothing in it acts on the womb or restores what the herbals promised, and the heavy-bleeding use rests on the astringency alone.

Toxic dose

Safe at tea doses.

Standing

No EMA monograph; in the German tradition (Wichtl) for mild diarrhoea and as a wash.

Wichtl, M. (2004). Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals, 3rd ed., “Alchemillae herba.” Standard reference work

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.

Lady’s mantle: what lore surrounds it?

Its Latin name, Alchemilla, “little alchemist,” is traditionally explained by the alchemists’ gathering of the dew from its leaves as the purest of waters for their work.

Lady’s mantle: what did the older authorities say?

Its English name: The mantle is the Virgin’s: the scalloped leaf was read as the edge of her cloak.

Sources

Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Lady’s Mantle.” Book, not indexed
Culpeper, N. (1652). The English Physitian. Primary text

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

3 cited: 1 primary text, 1 standard reference work, 1 book, not indexed.

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 30, 2026

Chicago: “Lady’s mantle.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 30, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/ladys-mantle.
MLA: “Lady’s mantle.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 30 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/ladys-mantle. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Lady’s mantle. (2026, September 30). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/ladys-mantle

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