06/01/2026
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Don't be deceived by the label, these small mustard seeds go by a different name, eyes of newt! According to many herbalists the "eye" of a plant can refer to its seed and the color of mustard seeds sometimes resemble that of a newt.
Eye of newt is an agreed upon phytonym for mustard seeds in different practices. Many midwives, hedgewives, witches, and medicine folk throughout history used "code names" for ingredients which is why sometimes an ingredient can sound a little peculiar.
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble." -Macbeth, William Shakespeare
