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Reference

Compendium

Ingredients for spellwork: their formal and folk names, categories, deities and forms, with the sources behind them.

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    313 ingredients

    313 ingredients

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    Botanical Name
    Aloysia citrodora

    Lemon Verbena

    Lemon verbena is a perennial shrub of the verbena family, Verbenaceae, native to South America and reaching two to three metres. Its glossy, pointed leaves, about eight centimetres long, release a strong lemon scent when bruised, which is what its specific epithet means, and sprays of tiny purple or white flowers appear in late spring or early summer. The Spanish and Portuguese brought it to Europe in the seventeenth century and grew it for its oil, which perfumers once distilled from the leaves. The leaves flavour fish, poultry, marinades, dressings, jams and puddings, are made into herbal teas and liqueurs, scent potpourri, and serve as a traditional medicine in Latin America. In Cunningham’s magic it belongs to love and purification: it is worn to make oneself attractive, added to love spells and mixtures, used to purify a space or a bath, and mixed into other blends to strengthen them. Hung around the neck, or a little of its juice drunk, it was said to keep the wearer from dreaming. Cunningham lists it as Lippia citriodora, one of several synonyms the plant has carried.

    Caution

    Cunningham marks lemon verbena as safe (health code G). AHPA safety class 1, interaction class A: no known contraindications, precautions, interactions or side effects, and no reported adverse events. Its safety in pregnancy and while nursing has not been conclusively established.

    The Oil form carries its own caution; the ingredient's page shows it.

    Forms

    • Leaf
    • Oil

    Correspondences

    Elements
    Air
    Celestial Bodies
    Mercury

    Folk Names

    • Cedron
    • Hierba de la Princesa
    • Lemon Beebrush
    • Verbena
    • Yerba Louisa

    Categories

    • Love
    • Purification
    See in Compendium