What is Ground elder?
What is ground elder?
Ground elder is a low, creeping green plant in the carrot family. In German it is called Giersch. In English it is also called goutweed, bishop's weed or herb Gerard.
The young spring leaves are eaten as a pot herb across much of Europe. They taste a little like parsley and celery. Older leaves turn bitter and tough.
European folk healers used it for gout and aching joints. The name podagraria comes from podagra, an old word for gout in the big toe.
Here is the honest verdict on evidence. There are no good human trials of ground elder for any health problem. Long folk use is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
The real hazard is not the plant itself. It is picking the wrong plant. Deadly lookalikes in the same family grow in the same damp, shady ground.
How does Ground elder work?
No one has shown how ground elder acts in the human body. The folk idea was that it flushed waste out through the urine and cooled hot joints.
Lab work gives a few clues and no more. In test tubes, extracts mop up free radicals, which are unstable molecules that damage cells. Some test-tube work suggests they slow enzymes linked to swelling.
A few animal studies report lower uric acid in rats given the extract. Uric acid is the waste that forms gout crystals in a joint.
Those were small studies in rodents. Nothing like this has been tested in people. A test-tube or rat finding is not a treatment.
The plant also contains coumarins, a group of scented plant compounds. Some carrot-family coumarins can make skin burn more easily in sunlight. Whether ground elder does this often is not well studied.
What forms does Ground elder come in?
Most people meet ground elder as a free wild green, not as a product.
- Fresh young leaves, used in salads, soups, pesto or cooked like spinach.
- Dried leaf, sold loose or in tea bags.
- Tincture, an alcohol extract sold in dropper bottles.
- Powder or capsules, sold by some herbal suppliers.
- Crushed fresh leaf, laid on the skin as a poultice in folk practice.
None of these are standardised. Strength is not listed in any meaningful way on most labels.
Where it comes from:
Ground elder was grown on purpose long before it became a garden weed. Roman and later monastic gardeners are thought to have spread it across Europe as a food and medicine plant.
Medieval and early modern herbals listed it for gout, sciatica and joint pain. One English name, herb Gerard, points to Saint Gerard, who was called on against gout.
Folk use also covered swelling, piles, stings and bites. Leaves were eaten in spring as a so-called cleansing or tonic green after winter.
It kept a place in German and Eastern European home practice as Giersch. This is a record of what people did, not a reason to treat yourself with it.
Who should avoid Ground elder?
- Never eat a wild plant unless you are completely sure of its name. Poison hemlock and hemlock water dropwort are deadly, are in the same family, and grow in the same damp, shady ground.
- Do not use it as a tea, tincture or capsule if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, as safety has not been studied.
- Do not use it if you are allergic to carrot-family plants such as carrot, celery, parsley, fennel or coriander.
- Do not stop or reduce your gout medicine, such as allopurinol or colchicine, in order to try it.
- Do not use it as a remedy if you have kidney disease, heart failure or take water tablets (diuretics), unless your doctor agrees.
- Do not use it if you take lithium, without asking the doctor who monitors your levels.
- Avoid getting the fresh sap on skin that will then be out in the sun, as a burn-like rash can follow.
- Do not give it as a medicine to babies or young children.
- Avoid plants picked from roadsides, dog-walking paths or ground that may have been sprayed.
When should you see a doctor?
Get emergency help at once if, after eating a foraged green, you have numbness or tingling, trembling, drooling, muscle twitching, a slow heartbeat, trouble breathing or a fit (seizure). These can be signs of hemlock poisoning, which is life-threatening. Take a sample or photo of the plant with you.
Call emergency services for swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, a widespread rash or trouble breathing. These suggest a severe allergic reaction.
See a doctor the same day for a hot, red, very painful joint, especially with fever. Gout, infection and other joint problems can look alike.
Stop using it and speak to a doctor or pharmacist if you get a rash, blistering, ongoing stomach upset or dizziness.
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