Mother of herbs

Enjoying a strange association with childbirth, mugwort is of more use in the kitchen and may even induce 'lucid dreams', finds John Wright

- John Wright

THE Ainu people-still extant as a group in Japan-believed that the oak and pine were the first trees and that mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) was the first herb, noting darkly that their spirits would wreak vengeance on any who disturbed their homes. It may seem that the idea of mugwort being the first herb was peculiar to them, but it is common throughout Eurasia, its area of origin. In the Middle Ages, it was known as 'the mother of herbs'. Indeed, 'mother' is appropriate here. Artemis, from whom its generic name is derived, was the Greek goddess of (among other things-she was quite the multi-tasker) childbirth. All writers of herbals from classical times to the present day speak of it highly and it has acquired new and vocal fans, albeit of a mostly excitable nature. Considering that few people in Britain could pick out mugwort from a police line-up, one must wonder what the fuss is all about.