Circaea Lutetiana is a perennial herbaceous plant with opposite, simple leaves, on slender, green stems. It grows 20 cm to 60 cm, rarely up to 75 centimetres high. The flowers are white, born from June till August. The small pear-shaped fruit has sharp buds that allow it to attach to different surfaces. The plant grows in the forest, on the banks of rivers, loves shade and moist loamy soil.
It is used in medicine to treat wounds, tinctures are drunk in the form of tea, and the roots are used to make dyestuff.
The genus name comes from the enchantress Circe of Greek mythology and the specific designation is derived from Lutetia, the Latin name for Paris, which was sometimes referred to as the “Witch City”.
