Agrimony

Botanical Name: Agrimonia eupatoria L.

Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)

Other Names: Church steeples · Stickwort · Cocklebur · Liverwort

Parts Used: Flowering tops (leaf, stem, flower). The root was used historically, though rarely.

Quick Look

Agrimony is a gentle, old-fashioned astringent, an herb that tones and tightens lax, leaky tissue. Reach for it for loose bowels, a sore throat, a weak or irritable bladder, and weepy skin or minor wounds.

Actions, Energetics & Taste

How It's Been Used

Bowels. A mild astringent for loose stools and simple diarrhea, toning the lining of the gut. This is still its official traditional use in Europe.

Bladder & kidneys. A long-standing herb for a weak or irritable bladder: bed-wetting in children, leaking with a cough or sneeze in older folks, and gravel.

Mouth & throat. The tea is an old gargle for a sore throat and for sores in the mouth.

Wounds & skin. The fresh herb was once pounded with lard for old sores and to draw out thorns and splinters. The tea is a traditional wash for minor wounds and irritated, weepy skin.

Bleeding & women's health. An old remedy for slow, passive bleeding, taken as a cold tea. The old American physicians gave it for heavy bleeding from the womb and for vaginal discharge.

Liver. Long valued as a liver herb, which is where the old name liverwort comes from. A small 2018 trial of an agrimony extract found modest drops in liver enzymes.

Lungs. Used for lingering coughs with heavy, thick mucus.

Other old uses. Country people brewed it as a spring tea and a substitute for ordinary tea, and it was once given for worms.

How to Make & Take It

Preparations: Tea · Gargle · Wash · Compress · Tincture

• Tea: 1–2 teaspoons dried herb to a cup of boiling water. Cover and steep 10–15 minutes. Up to 3 cups a day.
• Gargle: The same tea, cooled to warm, several times a day.
• Wash or compress: 1–2 tablespoons herb simmered in a cup of water for 10 minutes, then cooled and applied with a clean cloth.
• Tincture: 1:5 in 45% alcohol, ¼ to ¾ teaspoon, three times a day.
• An old American method: an ounce of herb steeped in a pint of hot water for an hour, taken ¼ cup at a time.

Cautions

• It is drying, so it's a poor fit for someone already dry or constipated.
• No drug interactions are documented. As with any tannin-rich herb, take it a couple of hours apart from medicines and iron.
• It may lower blood sugar slightly, so those on diabetes medication should watch their numbers.
• It hasn't been studied in pregnancy or nursing. Talk with a knowledgeable herbalist or care provider before using it then.
• Diarrhea lasting more than three days, or any blood in the stool, needs medical attention.

Know the Plant

Agrimony is a hairy perennial, one to three feet tall. It has slender spikes of small yellow five-petaled flowers in summer, and leaves divided into large toothed leaflets with tiny ones between. Its burs have hooked bristles that cling to clothing.

It is native from Europe and northwest Africa east to Afghanistan, and introduced in scattered parts of the United States. Our native American agrimonies are related but different species. Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) is unrelated.

A Little History

The Roman writer Pliny called agrimony an "herb of princely authoritie," and the Anglo-Saxons, who knew it as Garclive, used it on wounds. The English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper (1652) called agrimony moderately drying and binding and praised it for the liver. It was an ingredient in eau d'arquebusade, the "musket-shot water" used on battlefield wounds. In America, William Cook wrote in 1869 that it "has long been known in medicine, and at one time enjoyed a fabulous reputation," and the Eclectic physicians who followed him relied on it for the bladder and lungs.

Angelica

Botanical Name: Angelica archangelica L.

Family: Apiaceae (Carrot/Parsley family)

Other Names: Garden Angelica · European Angelica · Archangel · Root of the Holy Ghost

Parts Used: Primarily root and rhizome; seeds and leaves are also used. Young stems have a long history as food.

Quick Look

Angelica is a warming, aromatic bitter that gets cold, sluggish, stagnant conditions moving. Reach for it especially when digestion is slow and heavy with poor appetite, gas or cramping, or when a cold comes with chilliness and thick, damp respiratory congestion. Its traditional digestive and respiratory uses remain recognized in modern herbal monographs.

Actions, Energetics & Taste

How It's Been Used

Digestion. One of Angelica's strongest traditional uses is for poor appetite, sluggish digestion, gas, bloating, fullness after eating and digestive cramping. Think especially of a cold, slow digestive picture rather than hot, irritated digestion.

Lungs. Traditionally used as an expectorant for coughs, colds and bronchial congestion, helping move stubborn mucus. It is particularly suited to someone who is chilly, damp and congested.

Colds & fever. Angelica was used as a warming diaphoretic during colds and feverish illnesses, encouraging perspiration while its aromatic qualities helped with respiratory congestion.

Women's health. Angelica has its own Western history as an emmenagogue, traditionally used to encourage delayed or suppressed menstrual flow, particularly when coldness and stagnation were part of the picture.

Nerves. Historically used for nervousness and sleeplessness, especially when tension accompanied digestive upset. Animal studies have found calming effects, but human research is lacking.

Joints. An old remedy for chronic rheumatism and gout, taken as a warm tea and applied as a warm compress to swellings.

Urinary system. Traditionally used as a diuretic to increase urinary flow. This is a secondary use, not the herb's main identity.

How to Make & Take It

Preparations: Tea · Decoction · Tincture

• Tea: About 1 teaspoon dried root per cup of water. Cover and steep 10–15 minutes. Take up to 3 times daily, especially before meals when using it as a digestive bitter.
• Decoction: About 1 teaspoon dried root per cup of water, gently simmered, covered, for 15–20 minutes.
• Tincture: 1:5 in 50% alcohol, ¼ to ½ teaspoon in a little water, up to twice a day.
• Seeds: The aromatic seeds have been used in teas and other preparations as well as in cooking.
• Food: The young stems have traditionally been cooked or candied, and Angelica has a long history as a flavoring for foods and drinks.

Cautions

• Avoid during pregnancy and when trying to conceive, because of its traditional menstrual-stimulating action. It is not for women with heavy menstrual bleeding.
• Angelica contains furanocoumarins that can increase sensitivity to sunlight. Avoid prolonged sun or UV exposure while using medicinal amounts, and be aware that fresh plant sap can also irritate sun-exposed skin.
• It is not advised where there is chronic inflammation of the stomach or bowels, such as an ulcer; its stimulating nature may irritate.
• No drug interactions are documented, though herbalists advise care with blood-thinning medicines.
• An old herbal caution advises against it for anyone with a tendency toward diabetes.
• Its safety while nursing is not established. Talk with a knowledgeable herbalist or care provider first.
• Persistent fever, breathing difficulty, or a cough that is severe or worsening needs medical attention.

Know the Plant

Angelica is a large, strongly aromatic, short-lived perennial in the carrot family, often reaching 5–6½ feet tall. It flowers once, usually in its second or third year, and then dies. It has thick, hollow, grooved stems; very large divided leaves; and rounded umbels of tiny greenish-white flowers.

It is native from Greenland and Europe eastward into western Siberia and has been introduced in a few places beyond, including the Yukon. It favors damp places such as streambanks, river margins and moist meadows.

Identification matters. Angelica belongs to the same family as poison hemlock and water hemlock, both dangerously poisonous. Never gather wild Angelica for medicine unless identification is certain.

Two relatives are worth knowing. American Angelica (A. atropurpurea) grows in the eastern United States and was also used in American herbal medicine, though it is less aromatic. Dong Quai (A. sinensis), native to China, is a different herb with a different medicinal tradition.

A Little History

Angelica has been valued in Europe for centuries as both food and medicine. Nicholas Culpeper wrote that it was called Angelica "because of its angelical virtues." It became especially famous in times of epidemic illness, when it was included in preparations against pestilence and poison. Its young stems later became well known as a candied confection, a culinary tradition that has lasted alongside the medicinal one.

Arnica

Botanical Name: Arnica montana L.

Family: Asteraceae (Aster/Daisy family)

Other Names: Mountain Arnica · Mountain Tobacco · Leopard's Bane · Wolf's Bane

Parts Used: Primarily the flower heads. The root and whole plant appear in older herbal preparations.

Quick Look

Arnica is one of the classic herbs for bumps, bruises, sprains, strains and sore muscles after injury. Think of it when something has been hit, twisted, overworked or otherwise traumatized and the area is tender, swollen and feels bruised. Its place in the home apothecary is on the outside of the body, on intact skin. This traditional use for bruises, sprains and localized muscle pain remains officially recognized.

Actions, Energetics & Taste

How It's Been Used

Bruises. This is Arnica's classic use. Applied soon after a bump or blow, it has traditionally been used to ease tenderness, swelling, discoloration and that unmistakable "I feel bruised" soreness.

Sprains & strains. Arnica is a favorite for twisted ankles, pulled muscles and other soft-tissue injuries where soreness and swelling follow trauma.

Sore muscles. Used externally for muscles that are tender and aching after injury or overexertion, including the bruised, strained feeling that can accompany back pain.

Arnica or Comfrey? Both belong in a first-aid apothecary, but they fill different roles. Think Arnica first for the impact, bruising and swelling on intact skin. Think Comfrey when tissue repair is the greater need, such as damaged tissue or a mending bone.

Arnica or St. John's Wort oil? Think Arnica for bruised and strained tissue, and St. John's Wort oil when nerve injury or nerve-type pain is prominent. They may be combined when both pictures are present.

Older uses. American herbalists once used Arnica much more broadly. Small internal doses were given for injuries and, in Eclectic medicine, for weak circulation and feeble breathing in exhausting illness. Those uses have fallen away from home herbalism because Arnica taken internally can be toxic.

How to Make & Take It

Preparations: Oil Infusion · Salve · Compress · Tincture

• Oil infusion: 1 part dried flowers to 5 parts oil, about 1 ounce of flowers to ⅔ cup of oil. Rub a small amount into the area 2–3 times a day.
• Salve: Made from the infused oil. Apply a thin layer over intact skin 2–3 times a day.
• Tincture compress: Stir 1 tablespoon of Arnica tincture into ½ cup of water, wet a cloth and lay it over the injury. Never apply the tincture full strength.
• Tea compress: Steep 1–2 tablespoons of dried flowers in ⅔ cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Cool, then soak a cloth and apply.
• Gel or cream: Apply store-bought preparations according to the label.

Cautions

• Do not take herbal Arnica internally; it can be toxic. Homeopathic Arnica pellets are a different, extremely diluted product.
• Keep Arnica to intact skin, not cuts, scrapes or open wounds.
• Arnica can cause itching, redness or a rash, particularly in people sensitive to the daisy family. Repeated or full-strength applications can irritate and even blister the skin, so use it short-term.
• Skin use hasn't been studied in pregnancy or while nursing. Talk with a knowledgeable herbalist or care provider first.
• No drug interactions are reported.
• A severe injury, a suspected fracture, severe swelling, or pain that is no better after three or four days needs medical attention.

Know the Plant

Arnica montana is a perennial of the daisy family. A flat rosette of leaves sits at the ground, and from its center rises a stalk one to two feet tall bearing orange-yellow, daisy-like flowers. It is a plant of mountain pastures and open woods.

True Arnica montana is native to Europe, not North America. North America has native Arnica species of its own, such as Arnica chamissonis and Arnica cordifolia. When buying or identifying Arnica, check the botanical name.

Take care with the old names. Wolf's Bane and Leopard's Bane are both also common names for Aconitum (monkshood), a deadly poisonous and unrelated plant.

A Little History

Arnica has been a trauma herb in the mountains of Europe for centuries. The German herbalist Tabernaemontanus credited it with healing wounds in 1613, and Maud Grieve wrote that it had long been a popular remedy wherever it grew. By the nineteenth century it was established in American medicine too, and a tincture of the flowers was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia. The Eclectic physicians used it far more broadly than home herbalists do today. One of their descriptions still fits: a "tensive backache, as if bruised or strained."