130 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
oblong-oval or elliptical, inciso-crenate-serrate, downy above and 
more densely so beneath, where they are pilose on the veins but 
without glands. Stipules half-lunate, inciso-serrate. Fruit-calyx 
cylindrical-obconic, with 10 deep furrows extending nearly to the 
base, surmounted by a ring bearing several rows of hooked spines, 
containing usually only a single achene; segments connivent, sub- 
acute. 
In dry thickets, hedge-banks, sides of fields, and waste places. 
Not uncommon, and generally distributed, except in the extreme 
North of Scotland. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Summer and 
Autumn. 
Rootstock flexuous, not creeping. Stem 1 to 3 feet high, an- 
gular, branched in large specimens. Leaves numerous, situated 
principally towards the base of the stem; leaflets increasing in size 
towards the apex of the leaf, where they are 1 to 14 inch long, with 
5 to 9 deep incisions on each side between the teeth, which are sub- 
acute, but with rounded sides. Stipules large, very slightly adnate. 
Racemes terminal, short while in flower, but lengthening much in 
fruit, till the principal one occupies half the height of the plant. 
Pedicels extremely short, at first erect, but recurved after flowering, 
springing from the axils of small trifid bracts, and having 38 or 4 
bracteoles at the apex, which embrace the base of the calyx-tube. 
Flowers} inch across, brightyellow. Petals oblong-obovate. Stamens 
shorter than the petals. Fruiting-calyx woody, about ¢ inch long 
and nearly as wide at the mouth, with the sides nearly straight and 
deeply furrowed, surmounted by an enlarged ring armed with spines, 
of which the exterior ones are shorter and spreading, the interior 
ones longer and erect. Achene pale. Plant deep-green, hairy. 
Common Agrimony. 
French, Aigremoine Hupatoire. German, Gemeiner Odermennig. 
This plant was one of the favourite remedies of the old herbalists, and the multi- 
tude of diseases for which it is said to be a remedy would almost fill a medical diction- 
ary. Gerarde tells us that a “decoction of the leaves is good for them that have 
naughty livers.” Dioscorides adds, that “it is a remedy for them that have bad livers, 
und for such as are bitten with serpents.” For the stoppage of hemorrhages a somewhat 
appalling prescription is given :—“ Agrimony, pounded frogs, and human blood ;” the 
latter ingredient savouring of homeopathic ingenuity. As a cooling “diet drink,” as it 
is called, infused in water, Agrimony is still esteemed in rural districts, also as an appli- 
cation to ulcers. In North America it is said to be used in fevers with great success. 
Withering, on the authority of Dr. Hill, recommends “an infusion of six ounces of the 
crown of the root in a quart of boiling water sweetened with honey, and half a pint of it 
drank three times a day,” as an effectual remedy for the jaundice. It was sometimes given 
as avermifuge. The dried leaves are used in rural districts as a sort of tea. The plant 
a 
