# Verbena (Verbena officinalis)

**Verbena**

**Known today as.** Vervain, *Verbena officinalis*.

Kind: Plant

## What did Canale use it for?

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

## 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 and toxicology

- **verbenalin and hastatoside**: iridoid glycosides
- **verbascoside**: a phenylethanoid
- **citral**: in 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.

**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.

## 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.”

## 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

- Kubica, P., et al. (2020). “*Verbena officinalis* (common vervain): a review on the investigations of this medicinally important plant species.” *Planta Medica* 86.
- Makino, Y., et al. (2009). “Hastatoside and verbenalin are sleep-promoting components in *Verbena officinalis*.” *Sleep and Biological Rhythms* 7.

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*Verbena.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/verbena

Historical description, not medical advice.