Verbena

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Verbena

Verbena

Known today as: Vervain, Verbena officinalis.
Kind: Plant, in 1 older authority
Constituents: verbenalin and hastatoside, verbascoside, citral
Earliest authority here: Pliny (AD 23/24–79)
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

Verbena: what did Canale use it for?

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

Verbena: what does modern science say?

The sacred herb of Roman and druidic rite, later tied by legend to Calvary and called Herb of Grace. Mild effects only.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

verbenalin and hastatosideiridoid glycosides
verbascoside ChEMBLa phenylethanoid
citral ChEMBLin the lemon verbena, a different plant

Mechanism

Vervain, Verbena officinalis, the herb of the altar: a mild bitter and astringent whose iridoids are anti-inflammatory in animals; hastatoside and verbenalin promote sleep in rats. It is in a licensed German sinusitis mixture (Sinupret) with cowslip, elder, gentian, and sorrel, which has controlled trials.

Toxic dose

Safe at tea doses.

Standing

No EMA monograph of its own (the herb has been in the European Pharmacopoeia since 2008); the Sinupret trials are of the combination.

Kubica, P., et al. (2020). “Verbena officinalis (common vervain): a review on the investigations of this medicinally important plant species.” Planta Medica 86. Verified against its record · doi:10.1055/a-1232-5758
Makino, Y., et al. (2009). “Hastatoside and verbenalin are sleep-promoting components in Verbena officinalis.” Sleep and Biological Rhythms 7. Verified against its record · doi:10.1111/j.1479-8425.2009.00405.x

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.

What Medicine Makes of It

The Living LightHildegard's visions, and the migraine aura.

Verbena: what lore surrounds it?

Christian legend made it the herb that staunched Christ’s wounds on Calvary, and it was gathered with a prayer; the English rhyme runs “Vervain and dill / hinder witches from their will.”

Verbena: what did the older authorities say?

Pliny: Calls it the most honored of Roman plants: carried by the envoys of Rome, swept on Jupiter’s altar, and used by the Gauls and the Persian Magi for divination.

Sources

[54] Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal. Online edition, botanical.com, cited under the plant concerned. Read in part · the text read

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the fifty-entry sample
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 read in part, 2 verified against its record. 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 25, 2026

Chicago: “Verbena.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/verbena.
MLA: “Verbena.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/verbena. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Verbena. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/verbena

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