Round birthwort

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Round birthwort

Aristolochia rotonda

Known today as: Aristolochia rotunda.
Kind: Plant, in 1 older authority
Constituents: aristolochic acid I, aristolochic acid II
Poisoning: Aristolochic acid nephropathy
Earliest authority here: The name
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 6: Remedies Given by Mouth After the Purge

Revised October 1, 2026: Lore added from texts read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.

Caution. Hazardous in some form or dose; see the modern assessment below.

Round birthwort: what did Canale use it for?

In the cockerel, the bath, the oil; as an amulet (chs. 6–7, 9–10).

Round birthwort: what does modern science say?

Named for its use in childbirth. It contains aristolochic acid, which causes kidney failure and cancer, and is banned or restricted in herbal medicines in many countries.

Round birthwort: is it poisonous?

Yes, in some form or dose. Its poisoning is aristolochic acid nephropathy: Months to years of exposure; the kidney damage is cumulative and silent. Historical description, not medical advice; in a poisoning, call a poison centre.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

Mechanism

The aristolochic acids are activated in the kidney to compounds that bind DNA; the adducts cause a characteristic mutation and kill the tubule cells.

Toxic dose

Cumulative; the Belgian patients took about 200 g of the herb over a year.

Syndrome

Aristolochic acid nephropathy

Standing

Banned in the European Union, the United States (2001), and most of Asia; the FDA warns against every product containing Aristolochia.

Vanherweghem, J.-L., et al. (1993). Lancet 341. Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/0140-6736(93)91209-5
Hoang, M. L., et al. (2013). “Mutational signature of aristolochic acid exposure as revealed by whole-exome sequencing.” Science Translational Medicine 5. Verified against its record · doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3006200

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.

Round birthwort: what lore surrounds it?

Folkard derives the old English name “from its reputed remedial powers in parturition—probably first suggested by the shape of the corolla—whence also its Greek name, from aristos, best, and locheia, delivery,” and adds from Pliny that “if the expectant mother desired to have a son, she employed Aristolochia, with the flesh of an ox.” Certain species are “renowned, in some European countries, for having a wonderful influence over fishes and serpents”; the snake jugglers of Egypt “are believed to stupefy these reptiles by means of a decoction distilled from the plant,” and “Apuleius recommends the use of Aristolochia against the Evil Eye.”

Grieve adds that Aristolochia sempervirens “is said to be used by the Arabians as a remedy against the poisonous effects of snake-bite,” and the serpentary of North America “as an alexiteric and for the bites of mad dogs.”

Round birthwort: what did the older authorities say?

The name: Greek aristolochia, “best for childbirth”: its curved flower was read as a sign of the womb, and it was given to hasten labor.

Sources

[38] Encyclopaedia Britannica, online edition, britannica.com. Articles: Ambergris; Aristolochiaceae; Asafetida; Azurite; Castor-oil plant; Civet; Dragon’s blood; Garden cress; Jet; Kermes; Laudanum; Lye; Monemvasía; Musk; Precious coral; Saltpetre; Sulfur dioxide; Tartar emetic; Tropaeolum. Book, seen in reviews
[46] U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2020). Import Alert 54-10: Detention without physical examination of bulk/finished dietary supplement products containing aristolochic acid. Book, not indexed
[65] International Agency for Research on Cancer (2002). Aristolochia species and aristolochic acids. IARC Monographs 82, Summary and Evaluation. inchem.org. Standard reference work
[126] Zhou, Q., Jiang, L., Su, T., Liu, G., & Yang, L. (2023). Overview of aristolochic acid nephropathy: an update. Kidney Research and Clinical Practice 42(5): 579–590. doi:10.23876/j.krcp.22.211 Verified against its record · doi:10.23876/j.krcp.22.211

Folkard, R. (1884). Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, “Aristolochia.” Project Gutenberg #44638. Primary text
Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Birthwort.” botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/birthw44.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

8 cited: 3 verified against its record, 1 primary text, 2 standard reference work, 1 book, seen in reviews, 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 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026

Chicago: “Round birthwort.” 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/round-birthwort.
MLA: “Round birthwort.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/round-birthwort. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Round birthwort. (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/round-birthwort

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