AGRIMONY (from the

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• LAT

Lat. agrimonia, a transformation of apye,uUwn, a word of unknown

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• ETYMOLOGY (Gr. grvµos, true, and X6yos, "account)

etymology)  , a slender perennial herb (botanical name, Agrimonia Eupatoria, natural order Rosaceae), 11 to 3 ft. high, growing in hedge-banks, copses and borders of fields . The leafy stem ends in spikes of small yellow flowers . The flower-stalk becomes recurved in the fruiting stage, and the fruit bears a number of hooks which enable it to cling to rough objects, such as the coat of an animal, thus ensuring distribution of the seed . The plant is common in Britain and widely spread through the north temperate region . The underground woody stem is astringent and yields a yellow dye . The name has been unsystematically given to several other plants; for instance: bastard, Dutch, hemp or water agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum); noble or three-leaved agrimony (Anemone hepatica); water agrimony (Bidens); and wild agrimony (Potentilla anserina) .