Alehoof, Or Ground-Ivy

Glechoma hederacea

HRB-0007Entry “ALEHOOF, OR GROUND-IVY” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernEFSA: 1,8-cineole, hederacine A, hederacine BEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

Historical correspondence. Ruled by Venus, by Culpeper. A traditional astrological assignment, kept apart from the modern evidence; it is not a finding.

What it does, in Culpeper: Counter-poison

Culpeper’s claims about it: 12, under 12 headings

  1. CancersCLM-000388
    The juice of it boiled with a little honey and verdigrease, doth wonderfully cleanse fistulas, ulcers, and stays the spreading or eating of cancers and ulcers;
    QUO-000326Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. EarsCLM-0022941850 index, p. 5
    The juice dropped into the ears, wonderfully helps the noise and singing of them, and helps the hearing which is decayed.
    QUO-001415Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  3. FistulasCLM-000780
    The juice of it boiled with a little honey and verdigrease, doth wonderfully cleanse fistulas, ulcers, and stays the spreading or eating of cancers and ulcers;
    QUO-000326Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  4. JaundiceCLM-000990
    helps the yellow jaundice, by opening the stoppings of the gall and liver, and melancholy, by opening the stoppings of the spleen;
    QUO-000750Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  5. Jaundice — YellowCLM-001065
    helps the yellow jaundice, by opening the stoppings of the gall and liver, and melancholy, by opening the stoppings of the spleen;
    QUO-000750Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  6. LiverCLM-001152
    helps the yellow jaundice, by opening the stoppings of the gall and liver, and melancholy, by opening the stoppings of the spleen;
    QUO-000750Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  7. LungsCLM-001239
    a singular herb for all inward wounds, exulcerated lungs, or other parts, either by itself, or boiled with other the like herbs;
    QUO-000869Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  8. MelancholyCLM-001302
    helps the yellow jaundice, by opening the stoppings of the gall and liver, and melancholy, by opening the stoppings of the spleen;
    QUO-000750Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  9. Poison (to expel)CLM-001377
    expels venom or poison, and also the plague;
    QUO-000934Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  10. StomachCLM-001566
    and being drank, in a short time it eases all griping pains, windy and choleric humours in the stomach, spleen or belly;
    QUO-001041Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  11. UlcersCLM-0018981850 index
    if you put to the decoction some honey and a little burnt alum, it is excellently good to gargle any sore mouth or throat, and to wash the sores and ulcers in the privy parts of man or woman;
    QUO-001197Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  12. WoundsCLM-002149
    a singular herb for all inward wounds, exulcerated lungs, or other parts, either by itself, or boiled with other the like herbs;
    QUO-000869Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.