Originally from Central Asia and southeastern Europe, it is now found worldwide, spread largely due to its use as a herbal remedy.

[3] Motherwort is probably native to the southeastern part of Europe and central Asia where it has been cultivated since ancient times.

Its natural habitat is beside roadsides, in vacant fields, waste ground, rubbish dumps and other disturbed areas.

[4] Nicholas Culpeper considered motherwort useful for removing melancholy vapors from the heart, improving cheerfulness, and settling the wombs of mothers.

[7] Among other chemical constituents, it also contains stachydrine,[8] bitter iridoid glycosides (leonuride), diterpenoids, flavonoids (including rutin and quercetin), tannins, volatile oils, and vitamin A. Stachydrine is extracted from the leaves of Motherwort and has demonstrated various bioactivities for the treatment of fibrosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, uterine diseases, brain injuries, and inflammation.