Ma Bian Cao
StarVerbena officinalis L.
Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Colds & fever
- Digestion
- Urinary & fluids
- Menstrual & women's health
- Heart & circulation
- Skin
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
☯ TCM Properties
Invigorates Blood and Dispels Stasis; Clears Heat and Resolves Toxicity; Promotes Urination and Reduces Edema; Checks Malaria; Promotes Menstruation
Traditional Chinese Uses
Ma Bian Cao (verbena herb) is a cool herb used in Chinese medicine to clear Heat toxin, promote Blood circulation, and diurese fluid. It is applied for conditions including malaria, early-stage febrile illness, throat infections, sores and abscesses from Heat toxin, and menstrual pain from Blood stagnation. Its actions on the Blood and Liver channels also extend to treating jaundice and promoting the resolution of water retention in certain abdominal conditions.
Western Herbalism Properties
Traditional Uses
The Houma used Verbena officinalis as a kidney aid and a liver aid (Speck, 1941).
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Verbena officinalis, common vervain, is a slender, erect perennial herb in the family Verbenaceae, native to Europe, the Mediterranean basin, and temperate Asia and naturalized across much of North America, South America, Australia, and Africa, where it grows along roadsides, in waste ground, dry meadows, and disturbed soils. The plant rises 30-100 cm from a woody rootstock on stiff, square, four-angled stems that are sparingly branched and roughly hairy on the angles. The opposite leaves are highly variable, the lower ones obovate to ovate and coarsely lobed or pinnately divided, the upper ones smaller, lanceolate, and toothed, all somewhat rough to the touch. Slender, elongated, terminal spike-like inflorescences bear small, pale lilac to whitish, five-lobed tubular flowers about 4 mm across that open a few at a time progressively up the spike from summer to autumn. The fruit is a dry schizocarp splitting into four nutlets.
Active Constituents
Verbenalin (cornin)
Iridoid glucosideConcentration: reported at roughly 1.5-2.7% of the dried herb in commercial European samples; used as the quality marker for Verbenae herba
The principal marker constituent. Given intraperitoneally to mice with hastatoside it shortened sleep latency and increased non-REM sleep, which is the clearest single-compound pharmacology the herb has.
Hastatoside
Iridoid glucosideConcentration: around 0.5% of the dried herb in commercial European samples
First isolated from Verbena hastata and V. officinalis in the 1970s. It is the second of the two sleep-promoting iridoids identified in the mouse work of Makino and colleagues.
Verbascoside (acteoside)
Phenylethanoid glycosideConcentration: reported around 0.24-0.34% w/w in the tender aerial parts
The main phenylpropanoid of the herb and a co-marker with verbenalin in pharmacopoeial and HPLC assays. It carries much of the antioxidant capacity of the extract.
Aucubin
Iridoid glucosideConcentration: quantified by HPLC alongside hastatoside, verbenalin and verbascoside in Chinese Ma Bian Cao from six provinces; content varied by source
A minor iridoid included in the four-compound HPLC quality assay for the Chinese drug. Content varied between provincial sources, which the authors attributed to soil and climate.
Apigenin and luteolin glycosides (including luteolin 7,3'-digalacturonide)
Flavone glycosidesConcentration: identified by LC-MS as major constituents of the aqueous extract; not quantified
Identified among the major constituents of the aqueous extract used in the rat prenatal toxicity study, where the authors flagged the glycosylated flavonoids as candidates for the embryo-fetotoxic signal they observed.
Verbenalinoside A and verbenalinoside B
Iridoid-phenylethanoid glycoside conjugatesConcentration: isolated from the dried aerial parts; not quantified
Two heterodimers of verbenalin and verbascoside isolated in 2025. They rescued ethanol-induced injury in liver cells concentration-dependently in vitro, alongside their two precursors.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Oxytocin, misoprostol and other uterotonic drugs
This is a genuine reproductive signal, not a precautionary boilerplate. A case report of an abortifacient effect after V. officinalis consumption prompted an OECD 414 study in which pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed orally from gestation day 6 to 20. Dams at 2000 and 3000 mg/kg lost weight gain; the fetuses showed reduced weight, head cranium and tail length, higher pre- and post-implantation loss, asymmetrical implantation, and incomplete ossification of skull, sternebrae and metatarsal bones. Chinese sources classify the herb as blood-invigorating and menstruation-promoting, and it was traditionally used to break amenorrhoea and to hasten labour, which is the same pharmacology read from the other direction.
Clinical note: Do not prescribe in pregnancy or to a woman actively trying to conceive. Stop it before fertility treatment, and ask about self-medication with vervain tea in any early-pregnancy bleeding presentation.
Sedative-hypnotics (benzodiazepines, Z-drugs) and other CNS depressants
Verbenalin and hastatoside, the herb's two marker iridoids, were identified as sleep-promoting components in mice, increasing non-REM sleep. No human pharmacodynamic study of the herb with a sedative has been done, and the mouse dosing route does not translate directly to an oral decoction, so this is an expectation rather than a finding.
Clinical note: Ask about vervain use in patients reporting unexplained daytime sedation on a hypnotic, but do not treat this as an established interaction.
Lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora, syn. Aloysia triphylla) products
Retail products labelled verbena or verveine are usually lemon verbena, Aloysia citrodora, a lemon-scented Verbenaceae shrub used as a beverage tea and studied for sleep quality and exercise-related oxidative stress. It does not carry the verbenalin/hastatoside iridoid profile of Verbena officinalis or its abortifacient reputation. The reverse error also matters: a patient told to avoid verbena in pregnancy may be avoiding the wrong plant, or a practitioner may dispense the wrong one. Verbena hastata, the North American blue vervain, is a third plant sharing hastatoside.
Clinical note: Check the binomial on the label. If it says Aloysia, it is not Ma Bian Cao.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 5–10 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】5～10g。 【性味与归经】苦，凉。归肝、脾经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 6 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Show the study
In vitro / animal
4
2 verified · 2 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of the topical preparation of Verbena officinalis L.
- Hastatoside and verbenalin are sleep-promoting components in Verbena officinalis
- Prenatal developmental toxicity evaluation of Verbena officinalis during gestation period in female Sprague-Dawley rats
- Verbenalinosides A and B, Two Iridoid-Phenylethanoid Glycoside Conjugates from Verbena officinalis and Their Hepatoprotective Activity
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of the topical preparation of Verbena officinalis L.
Topical formulations of a 50% methanolic extract were tested against carrageenan-induced oedema and the formalin test in rodents. Preparations containing 1-3% w/w extract significantly inhibited oedema, and the 3% preparation matched piroxicam gel three hours after carrageenan. Analgesia appeared above 2-2.5% w/w but was weaker than methyl salicylate ointment.
Hastatoside and verbenalin are sleep-promoting components in Verbena officinalis
Identifies the two iridoid glucosides hastatoside and verbenalin as the sleep-promoting constituents of the herb in mice, increasing non-REM sleep. This is the basis for the herb's use in restlessness and for the theoretical additive-sedation caution.
Short-term effects of Verbena officinalis Linn decoction on patients suffering from chronic generalized gingivitis: Double-blind randomized controlled multicenter clinical trial.
260 patients with chronic generalized gingivitis were randomised to brushing and flossing alone or with an additional V. officinalis decoction mouth rinse. Gingival Index and Plaque Index fell in both arms, but significantly more in the rinse arm at both 14 and 28 days (P less than .001), with no adverse effects reported. This is the only controlled human trial of the herb located, and it is a topical oral-cavity use, not a systemic one.
Prenatal developmental toxicity evaluation of Verbena officinalis during gestation period in female Sprague-Dawley rats
50 pregnant rats received 500, 1000, 2000 or 3000 mg/kg of aqueous V. officinalis extract orally from gestation day 6 to 20, with caesarean section on day 21. No dams died, but weight gain fell at 2000 and 3000 mg/kg, implantation sites and embryos were asymmetrically distributed, and fetal weight, head cranium and tail length decreased with higher pre- and post-implantation loss. Incomplete ossification of skull, sternebrae and metatarsals appeared at the two top doses. LC/MS identified geniposidic acid, tuberonic acid glucoside, luteolin 7,3'-digalacturonide, iridotrial and apigenin as major constituents.
Verbenalinosides A and B, Two Iridoid-Phenylethanoid Glycoside Conjugates from Verbena officinalis and Their Hepatoprotective Activity
Two new heterodimers of verbenalin and verbascoside were isolated from the dried aerial parts. Both, along with their precursors, rescued ethanol-induced injury in liver cells in a concentration-dependent way, which the authors offer as a chemical basis for the herb's hepatoprotective reputation.
Allergic contact dermatitis from Verbena officinalis L.
A short report documenting allergic contact dermatitis attributed to Verbena officinalis. The abstract is not indexed, so the number of patients and the sensitising fraction are not restated here; it is cited as published evidence that topical vervain can sensitise, which is relevant given the herb's traditional external use on swellings and sores.
Historical Texts
Ming Yi Bie Lu (Miscellaneous Records of Famous Physicians)
Southern and Northern Dynasties, c. 500 CEBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty, 1596References
- Kubica P, Szopa A, Dominiak J, Luczkiewicz M, Ekiert H. Verbena officinalis (Common Vervain) – A Review on the Investigations of This Medicinally Important Plant Species . Planta Medica (2020) [DOI]
- Liu Z, Xu Z, Zhou H, Cao G, Cong XD, Zhang Y, Cai BC. Simultaneous determination of four bioactive compounds in Verbena officinalis L. by using high-performance liquid chromatography . Pharmacognosy Magazine (2012) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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