Aristolochia clematitis

Birthwort Aristolochiaceae

A plant with a rather alarming reputation, but a fascinating history. Aristolochia clematitis, the European Birthwort, has been used medicinally for more than 2,000 years. Theophrastus described it in classical Greece for snakebite, wounds and various ailments, while Dioscorides recorded it in the first century AD. Its name derives from the Greek aristos (‘best’) and locheia (‘childbirth’), reflecting its long association with childbirth and the expulsion of the placenta. It was subsequently used in European herbal medicine for wounds, gout, inflammation and digestive complaints. (PubMed Central (PMC)⁠)

Today, however, this is very much a plant to admire rather than medicate. Aristolochia contains aristolochic acids, which are potent nephrotoxins and carcinogens, and medicinal use is considered unsafe. (cancer.gov⁠) In the garden it is instead grown for its intriguing yellow pipe-shaped flowers and unusual foliage—a botanical curiosity with a remarkably eventful past.

Height: 60–100cm

Spread: 30–60cm