# Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)

**Eupatorium* of the ancients*

**Known today as.** *Agrimonia eupatoria*.

Kind: Plant

## What was it used for?

For wounds, the liver, and the flux; a staple of English herb-gardens.

## What does modern science say?

Astringent from its tannins.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **agrimoniin**: an ellagitannin, 4–10 per cent of the herb
- **luteolin-7-glucoside**: 
- **apigenin**: 

**Mechanism.** The tannins precipitate proteins, which tightens mucous membranes and stops small bleeding; agrimoniin is studied for anti-inflammatory and antiviral actions in vitro.

**Dose.** No toxicity at the usual tea doses (3–6 g a day); tannins taken for weeks can hinder iron absorption.

**Standing.** An EMA monograph (2015) allows the herb for mild diarrhoea, inflammation of the mouth and throat, and as a wash for inflamed skin, on traditional use.

## What lore surrounds it?

Named for Mithridates Eupator, the royal poison-master. An English charm held that a sprig laid under the head brought sleep so deep the sleeper would not wake until it was taken away.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Pliny.** “The eupatoria also is a plant under royal patronage.” Pliny describes a ligneous, hairy, swarthy stem “a cubit or more in length,” leaves “arranged at regular intervals” that “resemble those of cinquefoil or hemp” with five indentations at the edge, and says flatly that “the root is never used.” The one remedy he allows it: “The seed, taken in wine, is a sovereign remedy for dysentery.”

**Culpeper.** An herb “under Jupiter, and the sign Cancer,” “of a cleansing and cutting faculty, without any manifest heat, moderately drying and binding. It opens and cleanses the liver, helps the jaundice”; the decoction made with wine “is good against the biting and stinging of serpents, and helps them that make foul, troubled or bloody water”; “a draught of the decoction taken warm before the fit, first removes, and in time rids away the tertian or quartan agues”; and stamped with old swine’s grease it “draws forth thorns and splinters of wood, nails, or any other such things gotten in the flesh.”

## Sources

- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*.
- Pliny the Elder, *Natural History* 25.29, trans. J. Bostock & H. T. Riley (1855), Perseus Digital Library.
- Culpeper, N. (1653). *The Complete Herbal*, “Agrimony.” Project Gutenberg #49513.
- EMA/HMPC (2015). *European Union herbal monograph on Agrimonia eupatoria L., herba* (EMA/HMPC/680597/2013).
- Wichtl, M. (2004). *Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals*, 3rd ed.

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*Agrimony.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/agrimony

Historical description, not medical advice.