Masterwort

Other names: Cow cabbage, cow parsnip, hogweed, madness, wooly parsnip

Scientific name: Heracleum lanatum

Common names: Pink Masterwort, Berce Commune, Cow Cabbage, Cow Parsnip, Heracleum lanatum, Heracleum sphondylium, Heracleum sphondylium subsp. montanum, Hogweed, Imperatoria, Madnep, Radix Pimpinelle Franconiae, Woolly Parsnip, Youthwort, Cow cabbage Cow parsnip Hogweed Madnep Madness Woolly parsnip Youthwort        

Ayurvedic names:

Chinese names: 

Bangladesh names:

Arabic names:    الجاوي (al jaawi)

Rain Forest names:

Family: Fabaceae

Approximate number of species known: 9 

Common parts used: Root, seed

Collection:

Annual/Perennial: Perennial 

Height: 90 cm

Actions:  Anti-spasmodic, Carminative, stimulant

Known Constituents:

Constituents Explained: Romero also contains expectorants such as alpha-pinene and cineol, camphor, diosmin, trimethyl-rosmaricinem, luteolin, and apigenin (

Description: Masterwort is a large perennial plant; the large fleshy rootstock produces a stout, grooved, woolly stem, often 2 inches thick at the base and 3 to 8 feet high. The thin, hairy leaves are ternately compound and have broad, irregularly toothed leaflets. Large, compound umbels of dull white or purplish flowers appear during June and July. Seeds are flat and blackish, bigger than Dill seeds. 

Traditional Use: It is said to be stomachic and is traditionally used for bloating, flatulence, digestive disorders, weak stomach and intestinal catarrh 

Jethro Kloss used this for colds, fevers, the urinary tract, cramping, expeling gas from the bowels.

Clinical Use:  Despite safety concerns, people take masterwort for relief of muscle cramps, stomach disorders, digestive problems, diarrhea, and swelling of the tissue that lines the stomach and intestines.  There have been some reports that masterwort is used as a replacement to “stretch” greater burnet-saxifrage (Pimpinella major) products.