Agrimony
Common names Church steeples, sticklewort
Latin name Agrimonia eupatoria
Life cycle Perennial
Height 4-5'
Spread 12-18"
Bloom July-August
Light Full sun to light shade
Soil Average, dry, well-drained
Feature Drought tolerant
Medicinal
The flowers, leaves and stems can be used fresh or dried to make a sweet scented herbal tea. The tea is popular in France and is said to relieve coughs and to clear skin problems. Gargling with strong agrimony tea relieves sore throats and an agrimony bath soothes sore muscles. To make agrimony tea: use 2 to 4 teaspoons of dried leaves with 1 cup of water. Drink one cup a day.

Non-medicinal
Agrimony has a scent reminiscent of apricots and can be used in sachets and potpourri. Agrimony put under the pillow is said to induce sleep. You can extract a yellow dye for coloring textiles from leaves and stems. Its culinary use is insignificant.

Ornamental
Agrimony has tall spikes of small yellow flowers which are graceful and delicate. The pretty yellow flowers are followed by sticky little cockleburs. The stems are about 3 to 5 feet when blooming in July and August. Agrimony grows well along roadsides and field edges, and makes a good back-of-the-border plant.

Culture
Agrimony likes a well-drained soil in full sun, but is undemanding and will grow in a broad range of conditions. It will thrive in partial shade and in short grass. It is native to Europe, but has naturalized throughout North America and can be found growing wild along roadsides. The flower spikes are tall and graceful, but may need pruning or staking to prevent them from leaning if planted in the wrong place. Agrimony seeds are difficult to germinate if the seeds are not fairly fresh. The plant can be divided and replanted in early spring. It is susceptible to mildew.

Harvest
Collect leaves and flower spikes from early to late summer and hang them upside down in the dark to air dry. Crumple them and store in airtight containers. The roots can be dried and grated to add to sachets and potpourri. The whole plant can be picked to produce a good yellow dye. Plants harvested in summer produce a light yellow dye while plants harvested in autumn produced a darker yellow dye.

Caution
Agrimony may cause photodermatitis in some individuals. Agrimony generally appears to be as safe to use as coffee according to James Duke, PH.D., a botanist with the USDA.

Other Common Names
agremoine, aigremonie, agremony, cockle-bur, cocklebur(r), common agrimony, eggremunny, egemony, egremounde, egrimony, garclive, garglive, goosechite, Greek's eupatory, harvest lice, liverwort, medical agrimony, rat('s) tail, stick seed, white tansy, wild agrimony


References

Bremness, L.  1994.  The Eyewitness Handbook of Herbs.  DK Publishing, Inc., New York,
	NY.  page 139.

Carlson, M.  2000.  Herbs for the Pacific Northwest.  Steller Press limited, Vancouver,
	British Columbia.  page 86.

Clevely, A. and K. Richmond.  1995.  The Complete Book of Herbs.  Smithmark Publishers,
	New York, NY.  page 72.

Kowalchik, C. and W. H. Hylton.  1998.  Rodales's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. 
	Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA.   page 3.

Small, E.  1997.  Culinary Herbs.  NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  pages 73-76.

Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine editors.   1995.  Herbs  Sunset Publishing Corporation, 
	Menlo Park, CA.  page 34.

©2001 Beth's Backyard

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