Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Chenopodium vulvaria is a small weed with a strong, fishy smell. It is also called stinking goosefoot, stinking orach or notchweed. Old European herbals used the dried leaves; today almost nobody does.
It grows low to the ground on waste ground, farmyards, tracks and coasts across Europe. The smell comes from amines that the plant gives off, and it gets worse as the herb dries. In several countries the plant has become rare and is protected by law.
The honest verdict: there is no human evidence that it treats anything. Long use in tradition is not proof that a plant works, and not proof that it is safe.
Do not mix it up with wormseed (Dysphania ambrosioides). That is a different plant, and its oil has killed people.
Nobody knows how it would work, because it has barely been studied.
The plant gives off trimethylamine and related amines. These are what make the rotten-fish smell. Older writers thought the smell itself calmed the nerves, and that idea has no support.
There are no useful cell, animal or human studies on this species. Work on other goosefoots does not carry over, because different species make different chemicals.
So any mechanism you read for this plant is guesswork. Treat it that way.
There is no standard commercial product, and that is the main point to take away.
Forms you may still meet:
- dried whole herb, gathered from the wild by specialist sellers - a water infusion (a herbal tea), the historic home form - an alcohol tincture, used in 19th-century French pharmacy
None of these carry a tested dose or a quality check. Strength will vary from batch to batch.
One label warning matters. Products sold as "chenopodium oil" or "wormseed oil" are not this plant. They come from Dysphania ambrosioides and are dangerous to swallow.
In 18th and 19th century France the herb was known as vulvaire and sold by pharmacists. Writers of the time called it antispasmodic, meaning they believed it eased cramping.
It was also given as an emmenagogue, a herb meant to bring on a late period. A third use was for "hysteria", a nervous complaint that doctors no longer recognise as a diagnosis.
By the early 20th century it had dropped out of pharmacy. The foul smell and the lack of any clear effect both played a part.
This history explains why people know the name. It is not a reason to take the plant today.
Stop taking it and get medical advice if you have vomiting, bad stomach pain, or a rash.
Get urgent care the same day if you notice:
- pain in your side or back, or blood in your urine - you are passing much less urine than usual - you took it while pregnant, or found out you were pregnant
Call emergency services if you have swelling of the lips or tongue, trouble breathing, or you faint. Take the plant or packet with you so staff can see what it was.
It is not an approved medicine in the UK, the EU or the US, and it is not a normal supplement. In the UK it is a rare plant, and digging up any wild plant without the landowner's permission is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Some other European countries also protect it.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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