Culpeper: ‘Chamaedris. Germander. ... cuts and brings away tough humours, opens stoppings of the liver and spleen, helps coughs and shortness of breath, strangury and stopping of urine, provokes the terms.’

Culpeper, Nicholas. (1650). A Physical Directory . London, Peter Cole.

Notes: Germander used to be used in France to induce weight loss, but has been banned since 1992 after 26 cases of severe hepatitis associated with its use were reported. Diterpenoids are thought to be responsible (MCA, 1992 and others).

Medicines and Health Care Regulatory Agency , MCA. (2002). Medicines and Health Care Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for restricted or prohibited herbal medicines. Medicines and Health Care Regulatory Agency . Link

Hepatotoxicity due to neo-cleridine diterpenoids.

Professor Anthony Dayan, 2021

Humans, harmful if eaten.

HTA Guide to Potentially Harmful Plants, 3rd Edition (2022)

Teucrium chamaedrys L. Lamiaceae. Wall Germander. Distribution: Europe. Teucrium is named after king Teucer (who lived in the era between 1400 and 1000 BC) the first King of Troy. Dioscorides named a medicinal herb after Teucer, and Linnaeus consolidated this in 1753; (Stearn, 1994). Lyte (1578) recommended it for cough, shortness of breath, dropsy, strangury, for inducing menstruation, hardness of the spleen, and cataracts.

Oakeley, Dr. Henry F. (2013). Wellcome Library notes. Link

Teucrium is named after king Teucer (who lived in the era between 1400 and 1000 BC) the first King of Troy.

Oakeley, Dr. Henry F. (2013). Wellcome Library notes. Link

Teucrium is named after king Teucer (who lived in the era between 1400 and 1000 BC) the first King of Troy. The species name chamaedrys comes from the Greek words chamai meaning 'on the ground' and drys, meaning 'oak', originally used by Theophrastus for a low growing plant with oak-like leaves (Stearn, 1994).

Oakeley, Dr. Henry F. (2013). Wellcome Library notes. Link

Chamaedris. Germander.

Culpeper, Nicholas. (1650). A Physical Directory . London, Peter Cole.

Africa, Northern Africa, Algeria

Africa, Northern Africa, Morocco

Africa, Northern Africa, Tunisia

Asia-Temperate, Caucasus

Asia-Temperate, Middle Asia, Turkmenistan

Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Iran

Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Lebanon-Syria

Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Turkey

Europe, Eastern Europe, Ukraine

Europe, Middle Europe

Europe, Southeastern Europe

Europe, Southwestern Europe