Western Herbalism
Southernwood
Artemisia abrotanum
Also known as lad's love, old man, garden sagebrush, maiden's ruin, boy's love.
Southernwood is a shrubby, feathery, lemon-scented Artemisia of southern Europe and the Near East, long grown in cottage gardens and monastery physic gardens across Europe, from which it escaped into local use. The dried leafy tops are the medicine. It sits with wormwood and mugwort as an aromatic bitter, milder than wormwood and historically the household remedy for worms in children, weak digestion and delayed menses, and its sprigs were laid among clothes and carried to church to keep moths and sleep at bay.
Ask Herbert about Southernwood. Herbert is the master herbalist inside Bountiful Herbs: he answers from this plate and eleven hundred others, with dosing, pairing and cautions. Your first ten questions are free.
Ask HerbertActions
Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Poor appetite and sluggish digestion
- Flatulent dyspepsia
- Threadworm and roundworm (traditional, children)
- Delayed or scanty menstruation
- Allergic rhinitis and hay fever (nasal preparation)
- Catarrh of the upper airways
- Feverish colds with chills (traditional diaphoretic)
- Sluggish liver and gallbladder function
- Hair loss (traditional external rinse)
- Wounds and ulcers (external, traditional)
Specific indications
A child or adult with poor appetite, windy digestion and a fretful pale complexion where worms are suspected.
Hay fever with sneezing and a blocked, itchy nose that responds within minutes to the nasal spray.
Scanty, late periods in a chilly, low-energy woman with a sluggish gut.
Safety
Pregnancy: Not for use in pregnancy
Breastfeeding: No safety data and not rated by the standard handbooks; avoid or limit to brief courses under supervision.
The record lists 6 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
Think of southernwood as a gentler wormwood with a citrus note. As a bitter tonic it suits patients whose digestion is slow and gassy and whose appetite has faded, particularly convalescents and picky children, and it combines well with fennel or chamomile to soften the taste.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Infusion | 1-2 g dried aerial parts two or three times daily | 1000-2000 mg |
| Tincture (1:5, 40%) | 1-3 mL three times daily | 1-3 mL |
| External hair rinse or wash | strong infusion of 10-20 g per litre applied as needed | 10000-20000 mg |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Overview. Southernwood is a shrubby, feathery, lemon-scented Artemisia of southern Europe and the Near East, long grown in cottage gardens and monastery physic gardens across Europe, from which it escaped into local use. The dried leafy tops are the medicine. It sits with wormwood and mugwort as an aromatic bitter, milder than wormwood and historically the household remedy for worms in children, weak digestion and delayed menses, and its sprigs were laid among clothes and carried to church to keep moths and sleep at bay.
Clinical Notes. Think of southernwood as a gentler wormwood with a citrus note. As a bitter tonic it suits patients whose digestion is slow and gassy and whose appetite has faded, particularly convalescents and picky children, and it combines well with fennel or chamomile to soften the taste.
Nearby on the shelf
SolanumJatropha
Solomon's SealPolygonatum biflorum
SorrelRumex Acetosa
SourwoodOxydendrum arboreum
Spanish cherryMimusops elengi
Spanish needlesBidens bipinnata
SpearmintMentha spicata
SpeedwellVeronica officinalisThe whole plate is in the library. The compass, Compare, the Sky of eleven hundred plants and the formulary open with an email address and a password, free, with the formula builder and its safety engine. Herbert without limit, his formulating, clients, the handouts and the labels are the paid room.
Open the library, free