ROSACEAE ROSE FAMILY 
SOFT AGRIMONY 
Agrimonia mollis (TY. & G.) Britton 
Various species of Agrimony were formerly gathered 
every fall by country people and used for many purposes, 
but especially as a substitute or additional flavoring 
for tea. The leaves have 
a spicy odor when crushed 
and were thought to have 
medicinal value. 
The Soft Agrimony is a 
perennial branching herb 2-6 
feet tall, with tuberous roots. 
It grows in woods and thickets 
from Massachusetts and North 
Carolina to Michigan, Illinois 
and Kansas, and blooms from 
July to October. 
The alternate leaves are a 
peculiar in having pairs of & 
small leaf segments interposed 
with larger leaflets. There are 
usually 7 of the main leaflets, 
as shown, but these may be s- 
11. The stems are covered with 
soft hairs and the leaves are 
velvety, especially on the lower 
surface. 
The small flowers have 5 yellow petals and 5-15 stamens 
attached above the ovaries. The green calyx is 5-lobed and just 
below the lobes are many hooked bristles which, persisting and 
making a bur of the fruit, provide for its ready dispersal by 
animals. There are 2 simple pistils and the fruit consists of 1 or 
2 akenes within the bur. 
The Common Agrimony, Agrimonia striata Michx., also occurs 
in Illinois and is very similar but has fibrous instead of tuberous 
roots, and its leaves are dotted with glands. It blooms about a 
month earlier than the Soft Agrimony, in damp woods and alluvial 
soil from Newfoundland to Saskatchewan and Nebraska, south to 
West Virginia and New Mexico. 
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