Sweet woodruff
Asperula odorata; German Waldmeister
- Known today as
- Galium odoratum, a small woodland herb with whorled leaves that smell of new hay only once they are dried.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- coumarin, asperuloside, tannins
- Poisoning
- Coumarin and the liver
- Earliest authority here
- Gerard
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Sweet woodruff: what was it used for?
A cordial and liver herb; laid among linen and hung in rooms and churches for its scent.
Sweet woodruff: what does modern science say?
The hay scent is coumarin, released as the plant dries; coumarin in quantity harms the liver, and its use in food is limited in the European Union.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- coumarin ChEMBLfrom melilotoside, freed on drying; up to 1 per cent
- asperuloside ChEMBLan iridoid
- tannins
- Mechanism
- The hay scent is coumarin, released as the plant wilts; coumarin itself is not anticoagulant (that is dicoumarol, from spoiled sweet clover), but it is hepatotoxic in rats and in some people at high doses, and the European Union limits it in food. The May wine of Germany is permitted at a set level.
- Toxic dose
- The tolerable daily intake is 0.1 mg of coumarin per kilogram (BfR); a glass of May wine is within it; headaches follow excess.
- Syndrome
- Coumarin and the liver
- Standing
- A flavour, regulated; no medical monograph.
- Abraham, K., et al. (2010). “Toxicology and risk assessment of coumarin: focus on human data.” Molecular Nutrition and Food Research 54. Verified against its record · doi:10.1002/mnfr.200900281
- EFSA (2008). “Coumarin in flavourings and other food ingredients with flavouring properties.” EFSA Journal 793. Standard reference work
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.
Sweet woodruff: what lore surrounds it?
Steeped in white wine it makes the German Maibowle, the May wine of the first of May.
Sweet woodruff: what did the older authorities say?
- Gerard
- Writes that it is made up into garlands and hung in houses in summer, where it “doth very well attemper the aire, coole and make fresh the place.”
Sources
- Gerard, J. (1597). The Herball. Verified against its record · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.99400
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Woodruff.” 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: 2 verified against its record, 1 standard reference work, 1 book, not indexed. 1 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 30, 2026
- Chicago
“Sweet woodruff.” 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/sweet-woodruff.
- MLA
“Sweet woodruff.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 30 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/sweet-woodruff. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Sweet woodruff. (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/sweet-woodruff
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See Also
Poisoned alike: coumarin and the liver
Sharing coumarin, tannins
Cinnamomum verum · Juglans regia · Veronica chamaedrys · Rumex crispus · Prunella vulgaris
Drawing on the same sources: Gerard, Grieve, Abraham
Tormentil · Shepherd’s purse · Valerian · Tansy · Sumac · Tea · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Tamarind (The pod pulp of Tamarindus indica) · Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) · Sweet almond, oil of (Oil pressed from sweet almonds) · Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) · Sulfur (Brimstone)
Historical description, not medical advice.