Lovage
Levisticum
- Known today as
- Levisticum officinale, of the carrot family.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- ligustilide, butylphthalide, bergapten and psoralen, and 1 more
- Poisoning
- Phytophotodermatitis
- Earliest authority here
- Charlemagne
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: Lore added from texts read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Lovage: what was it used for?
Warming, for wind, the stomach, and the urine; a pot-herb of monastery gardens.
Lovage: what does modern science say?
A mild diuretic; no strong evidence for other uses.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- ligustilide ChEMBLa phthalide, the celery scent
- butylphthalide ChEMBL
- bergapten and psoralenfuranocoumarins
- sotolone ChEMBLthe maggi smell
- Mechanism
- The phthalides relax smooth muscle and are mildly diuretic, which is the “urine” of the herbals; the furanocoumarins photosensitise. Butylphthalide, from celery seed, is a licensed stroke drug in China.
- Toxic dose
- Safe at food doses; avoid in kidney inflammation and before sun exposure.
- Syndrome
- Phytophotodermatitis
- Standing
- EMA monograph (2013) for the root as a diuretic in minor urinary complaints.
- EMA/HMPC (2013). Community herbal monograph on Levisticum officinale Koch, radix (EMA/HMPC/524621/2011). Verified against its record
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.
Lovage: what lore surrounds it?
Grieve is candid that lovage “is not a striking enough plant to have claimed the attention of poets and painters, and no myths or legends are connected with it,” but notes that its name Baldmoney “is said to be a corruption of Balder, the Apollo of the northern nations, to whom the plant was dedicated,” and that “the public-house cordial named ‘Lovage,’ formerly much in vogue, however, owed such virtue as it may have possessed to Tansy.”
Lovage: what did the older authorities say?
- Charlemagne
- Lovage is among the plants the Capitulare de villis orders to be grown on the royal estates.
Sources
- Capitulare de villis (c. 800). Book, seen in reviews
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Lovage.” botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lovage42.html Standard reference work
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
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 3 cited: 1 verified against its record, 1 standard reference work, 1 book, seen in reviews.
- 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
“Lovage.” 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/lovage.
- MLA
“Lovage.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/lovage. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Lovage. (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/lovage
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See Also
Poisoned alike: phytophotodermatitis
Masterwort and angelica · Fig · Citron · Dittany · the syndrome, with all of them →
Drawing on the same sources: Grieve
Madonna lily · Lavender · Mallow and marshmallow · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) · Lourdes water · Madder (Rubia tinctorum) · Long pepper (The catkin-like fruit of Piper longum) · Lodestone (naturally magnetic iron ore) · Livid pinkgill (of broadleaf woods)
Historical description, not medical advice.