Leonurus cardiaca L. - Lamiaceae - common motherwort, **Echtes Herzgespann**, Löwenschwanz

Perennial hreb, 0.30-1m high, native from Europe through Soutwest and Central Asia, naturalized in North America; stem much-leaved; leaves above darker, underneath light-green.

"Leonurus cardiaca L. has been used in traditional medicine against nervous and functional cardiac disorders since 15th century and described for producing sedative, hypotensive and cardiotonic pharmacological effects. The plant has been reported to have furanic labdane diterpenes, sterols, iridoids and alkaloids etc. The ethanolic extract of leaves of Leonurus cardiaca yielded three new labdane type diterpenes, 15-ethyl-leopersine C, 15-methyl-leopersine C and 15-methyl-epi-leopersine C." [New labdane diterpenes from Leonurus cardiaca. Agnihotri, V. K., Elsohly, H. N., Smillie, T. J., Khan, I. A., Walker, L. A., Planta medica, Vol.74(3), 2008, 116]

Leonurus cardiaca refined extract (LCRE) showed a reduction of left ventricular pressure and an increase of relative coronary flow at isolated rabbit hearts perfused according to the Langendorff technique. Furthermore, the PQ-interval was prolonged and both the basic cycle length and the activation recovery interval increased. \\
[Cardiac and Electrophysiological Effects of Primary and Refined Extracts from Leonurus cardiaca. Ritter, M., Melichar, K., etal., Planta medica, Vol.76(06), 2010, 572-582]

The labdane-type diterpenes leopersine E, isoleosibirine, leopersine F and 7-epi-leopersine F, were found beside known lipophilic substances, like sitosterol, stigmasterol, genkwanin and ursolic acid. "In view of the search for possible cardioactive constituents, the similarity of these diterpenes to e.g. premarrubeine and marrubenol from the closely related Marrubium vulgare L. might be an important hint at a possible cardioactive property, particularly since those have been evaluated as calcium channel blocking agents." \\
[Labdane-type diterpenes and other lipophilic constituents from cardioactive Leonurus cardiaca L.: Analytical and preparative chromatography as well as structural determination. Brückner, A., Hennig, L., Rauwald, H. W., Zeitschrift für Phytotherapie, 34(S 01), 2013, P38] 

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Leonurus cardiaca L.; Masclef, A., Atlas des plantes de France, vol.3 t.263 (1893) \\
[[http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=592901]]

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Leonurus cardiaca, [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/|CC BY-SA 3.0]], Author: Andreas Kraska