Scientific name : Agrimonia eupatoria L.
Other names: Church steeples, Cocklebur, Philanthropos, Stickwort
Family: Rose family – Rosaceae
Agrimony is a pretty plant with spikes of tiny yellow flowers (church steeples) and fruit with hooked bristles at the top (cockleburs). It grows wild by roadsides, fields and woods. Although the plant has no narcotic properties, tradition holds that when placed under a person’s head, agrimony will induce a deep sleep that will remain till the plant is removed.
Folklore aside, Agrimony has long history of medical use. The English poet Michael Drayton once hailed it as an “all-heal,” and through the ages it did seem to be a panacea.
The ancient Greeks used Agrimony to treat eye ailments, and it was made into brew to cure diarrhea and disorders of the gall bladder, liver and kidneys.
Anglo-Saxons made a solution from the leaves and seeds for healing wounds; this use continued through the Middle Ages and afterward, in a preparation called eau d’ arquebusade, or “musket shot water”. Later, agrimony was prescribed for athlete’s foot.
In the United States and Canada, late into the 19th Century, the plant was prescribed for many of these ills and more: for skin diseases, asthma, coughs, and gynecological complaints, and as gargle for sore throat.
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Habitat: Roadsides, waste grounds. Fields, woods
Range: Native to Europe, agrimony is cultivated in much of the United States and Southern Canada.
Identification: A perennial, growing 2-3 feet high, with an upright mature brown stem covered with soft, silky hairs. The hairy leaves are alternate and pinnately divided, with coarsely toothed leaflets. At the top of the stem grow numerous small yellow flowers (July –August) in log spikes, the blooms opening one above the other. Hooked bristles at the upper end of the burlike fruit stick to clothing and animal fur.
Uses: Agrimony’s
medicinal properties as an anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and astringent are all due to the presence of large quantities of tannin in the plant. Herbalists today use the flowering stem tips and dries leaves as a tonic and diuretic and digestive disorders including diarrhea. The plant is also applied to slow healing wounds. Agrimony is an ingredient of herb teas.