Agrimony

Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria, is a softly hairy perennial of the rose family, native to Europe and south-western Asia, found there in damp meadows and pastures, by streams and among shrubs; in England it is common on hedge-banks and field margins. From a dark, woody root it raises a stem two feet or more tall, with toothed, pinnate leaves, and from June to September slender spikes of small yellow five-petalled flowers with a scent like apricots. The seed heads ripen into hooked burrs that catch on clothing and fur, which gave it names such as sticklewort and cocklebur, while the tall spikes earned it church steeples. Grieve traces its name to the Greek argemone, used of plants that healed the eyes, and its species name to King Mithridates Eupator. The Anglo-Saxons used it to heal wounds and in an ointment against poison and evil spirits, it went into the arquebusade water put on gunshot wounds, and the whole plant gives a yellow dye. Old lore held that a sprig laid under the head brought a sleep lasting until it was taken away. Medieval witches were said both to cast spells with it and to break them; it went into a potion, and a Tyrolean posy of herbs, that let the bearer see witches, and in Scotland it cured elf shot. Magically it goes into protection sachets, banishes negative energies and spirits, and turns a hex back on its sender.