Birth of a plant

Aristolochia means "excellent birth," and A. clematitis, whose flower also resembles the birth canal, is commonly called birthwort. In the Middle Ages, midwives administered brews to induce labor, expel the placenta, and abort pregnancies. It is believed that A. clematitis was plucked centuries ago from its native Mediterranean habitat and transplanted into apothecary gardens across Europe, its tenacious roots worming from those gardens into adjacent meadows and fields.

Aristolochia clematitis growing in a wheatfield outside the endemic village of Kaniža.
© Mirko Beoviće / www.mirkobeovic.com

Greek and Roman pharmacopeias of the 4th century BC contain Aristolochia-based remedies for asthma, gout, and bladder stones. Ancient Coptic and Arabic recipes date back to 900 AD. The use in traditional Chinese medicine was first recorded in the 3rd century AD. Native Americans believed A. serpentaria, commonly called Virginia Snakeroot, could cure snakebites and other wounds.

Today, Chinese herbal practitioners mix A. fangchi into weight-loss supplements, prescribe A. manshuriensis as a diuretic, A. heterophylla for asthma, and A. debillis to suppress coughs.¹ Practitioners in India, Japan, and Sudan use Aristolochia plants, too. The United States and a few other countries now ban the import of those supplements, but seeds, roots, and supplements are available over the Internet. Every single part of the plant - the leaves, roots, seeds, and stalks - and every Aristolochia species is poisonous.