Lady’s mantle

Alchemilla vulgaris

Rosaceae

Dew-catching scalloped leaves and a chartreuse foam of flowers — a European astringent of the old women’s shelf.

Leaf tea. Traditional women’s herb. Not a labor plan.

Parts used: Leaf · Flowering tops
Traditional notes: Menstrual cramp folklore · Mild astringent tea · Dew folklore of the alchemists
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 3–8 Division, or seed. It self-sows politely. In work: May · Jun · Jul
Harvest: Leaf before or as it flowers, dry.

The dew is real — guttation, not magic, and still worth looking at.
Shear after bloom for a second leaf flush.

Safety

Pregnancy without advice

Lore

Alchemilla is the little alchemist — the dew was supposed to be the purest water for the work. Our Lady’s mantle is a medieval church name for the scalloped leaf. Alpine women wore it in the shoe for a long walk, which is folklore, and drank it for cramp, which is the older job.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.