AMAZING LADY’S MANTLE

COMMON NAME: Lady's Mantle

BOTANICAL NAME: Alchemilla Vulgaris

ORIGIN: Poland

HABITAT: Europe. Lady's Mantle is found on almost the entire European territory, except for the southern regions, in the mountain forest, subalpine zones. It grows in rare mixed and pine forests, on wet meadows, along riverbanks and dry ditches, along roadsides.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION: Lady's Mantle (lat. Alchemilla Vulgaris) is a herbaceous perennial creeping plant, one of 40 species of the genus Alchemilla, belonging to the Rosaceae family.

Alchemilla Vulgaris is a perennial herb with one or more creeping stems that rise up during the period of flowering. The root of the plant is thick, horizontally located. This plant can reach up 30 cm in height. The leaves at the roots are long petiolate, slightly wavy; the main, stem leaves have a semicircular shape with arcuate lobes, pubescent on both sides, jagged at the edges. An interesting feature of Lady's Mantle is the ability to hold the morning dew in each leaf folded at the base of the funnel. The plant is able to secrete droplets of liquid along the edges of the leaves from specific glands (hydathodes), in science this process is called guttation. Due to the presence of dense pubescence, after the rain the leaves of Lady's Mantle remain almost dry. Lady's Mantle is able to bloom twice a year, usually flowering begins in June, re-flowering can be seen in September. The flowers of a greenish shade, small, collected in narrow inflorescences, resembling small balls. In August, there appear seeds. It propagates vegetatively (with parts of rhizome) and seeds.

The entire plant is used as a medical raw material. The herb is picked up during the flowering period and dried in a dark, well-ventilated room. The herb is able to keep its healing properties for one year. Dried raw materials have a tart, astringent taste, sometimes a slight bitterness can be felt.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION: The useful properties of Lady's Mantle are characterized by its distinctive chemical composition. Tannins (11%) were found in the plant, lignin, lipids, ellagic, lecithin, catechins, oleic, luteonic and linoleic acids, flavone glycosides, steroids, coumarins. The leaves contain a large amount of ascorbic acid, manganese, boron, zinc.

INTERESTING INFORMATION:

The generic name Alchemilla Vulgaris came from the Arabic word “alkimia” - Alchemy. The alchemists credited the plant with some magical and healing power, used Lady's Mantle, in particular its liquid - “celestial dew”, as the elixir of life. They believed that the water droplets secreted by Alchemilla Vulgaris possess magical properties and with their help supposedly can turn iron into silver and gold.

Medieval Western Europe considered Alchemilla Vulgaris to be sorcerous grass, and the miraculous dew from the leaves of the plant returned to human its former youth and beauty. 

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