Liverwort
Quick Facts
- What it is: The dried leaf of Hepatica triloba, a buttercup-family wildflower once used in American folk and Eclectic medicine for liver and chest complaints.
- Main uses: Liver complaints (traditional claim only), Coughs and bronchitis, Sore throat, Indigestion
- Active ingredients: Ranunculin (fresh plant), Protoanemonin (irritant, fresh plant), Anemonin (formed on drying), Mucilage, Tannins, Flavonoids
- Forms: Dried leaf tea, Tincture, Ingredient in old-style cough syrups, Capsules (uncommon)
- Time to effect: No proven effect; any throat comfort is brief and immediate.
- Side effects: Dried herb is usually mild; the fresh plant burns the mouth and blisters skin.
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What is Liverwort?
Liverwort is the dried leaf of Hepatica triloba, a small spring wildflower. American folk and Eclectic practitioners used it mainly for liver complaints and coughs. It is also called liverleaf or noble liverwort.
The name came from the shape of the leaf, not from any proven action on the liver. Each leaf has three rounded lobes. Old writers thought this looked like a liver.
The honest verdict is that the evidence is close to empty. No human trials show that it treats any illness. Long traditional use is not proof that a plant works, and it is not proof that a plant is safe.
One more thing matters before you buy. Several very different plants are sold as liverwort, including mosses and lichens. Check the botanical name on the label.
How does Liverwort work?
No one has shown how liverwort acts in the body, because no clear effect in people has been shown.
The fresh plant belongs to the buttercup family. It holds ranunculin, which turns into protoanemonin when the leaf is crushed. In laboratory tests, protoanemonin irritates tissue and slows the growth of some bacteria and fungi.
That chemistry does not survive drying. Protoanemonin changes into anemonin as the plant dries. Anemonin is thought to be far less active, which is one reason the dried herb seems so weak.
The soothing idea is simpler. The leaf holds mucilage, a slippery gel that may coat a sore throat. Warm liquid alone can do much the same, and this has not been tested in trials.
The old liver claim came from the leaf shape, not from biology. There is no study in people showing any effect on liver tests or liver disease.
What forms does Liverwort come in?
Liverwort is rarely sold today, and what is sold is often a different plant.
The forms you may meet:
Dried loose leaf, used as a tea.
Tincture, an alcohol extract, sold by a few small herb suppliers.
An ingredient in old-style cough syrups and blended tonics.
Capsules, which are uncommon.
Name confusion is the main risk at the shelf. Marchantia polymorpha is a flat green moss-like plant also called liverwort. Peltigera species are sold as ash-coloured ground liverwort, and Lobaria pulmonaria as tree lungwort.
These are not the same plant as Hepatica triloba. They have different chemistry and different risks. If the label gives no botanical name, you do not know what is in the jar.
Wild Hepatica is scarce or legally protected in parts of Europe and North America. Picking it is restricted in some places.
Where it comes from:
Liverwort was a doctrine-of-signatures remedy, meaning its use came from how the leaf looked.
European herbals named it for the liver centuries ago. American folk practice carried the idea over. Nineteenth-century Eclectic physicians listed it for liver complaints, jaundice, indigestion, coughs, bronchitis and blood in the spit.
It had a short commercial boom. In the 1880s large amounts of dried leaf were gathered for patent cough mixtures sold across the United States.
Eclectic writers were not impressed by it. King's American Dispensatory described it as a mild, nearly inert plant with little real power. It faded from practice by the early twentieth century.
None of this history is a recommendation to use it yourself.
Who should avoid Liverwort?
- Never chew, eat or rub on the fresh plant. Crushed fresh leaves release an irritant that blisters skin and burns the mouth.
- Never let the fresh juice get in your eyes. It can cause serious, lasting eye damage.
- Do not use it if you have a liver illness such as hepatitis (liver inflammation) or cirrhosis (liver scarring). See a doctor instead.
- Do not use it for jaundice (yellow skin or eyes). That symptom needs urgent medical assessment.
- Do not use it if you are coughing up blood. Get medical help the same day.
- Do not use it if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Buttercup-family plants are irritant and the safety data is missing.
- Do not use it if you are breastfeeding.
- Do not give it to children or babies.
- Do not use it if you have kidney disease (long-term kidney illness).
- Do not use it if you have a peptic ulcer (a sore in the stomach lining) or inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's or colitis.
- Avoid it if you are allergic to buttercup-family plants, such as pulsatilla, clematis, hellebore or monkshood.
- Do not buy it if the label gives no botanical name. Several unrelated plants are sold under the same name.
- Do not pick it from the wild where the plant is protected.
When should you see a doctor?
Stop using liverwort and speak to a doctor or pharmacist if you get mouth burning, blisters, a rash, vomiting or lasting stomach pain.
Get medical help the same day if you notice any of these:
Yellow skin or yellow eyes.
Dark urine, or pale stools.
Pain under your right ribs.
Coughing up blood.
Shortness of breath, or a cough lasting more than three weeks.
Go to an emergency department if fresh plant juice gets in an eye, or if a child swallows the fresh plant.
Is Liverwort legal where you live?
Liverwort is not approved as a medicine in the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union. Where it is sold, it is sold as a herbal supplement, not a food. The wild plant is protected by law in some European countries and some US states, so picking it may be illegal.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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