Agrimony

With a lemony fragrant scent, agrimony has relaxing and calming qualities along with a gentle bitterness and astringency that makes it helpful for toning tissues that have become too relaxed or inflamed. UK herbalist Lucy Jones describes the energetics of agrimony as encouraging “us to reset the balance between tension and relaxation in our bodies.” She says it is for patients who ‘put on a brave face’, ‘hide their worries behind a happy countenance’ and who drive their tension deep inside their body, so that the surface seems relaxed and calm. “This is the classic British ‘stiff-upper-lip’ syndrome. We do not want to bother someone else with our troubles and prefer to keep up a pretence of all being well. This dual reality sets up a lot of tension in the body, so much so that a release valve can be needed. Often this is achieved by the person falling prey to addictive behaviours, such as excessive drug taking or alcohol consumption, or thrill-seeking behaviour patterns such as driving too fast…" Agrimony people “like partying hard” and are addicted to activities that “get their adrenaline flowing”, she says.  

However, agrimony is most often prescribed as a hepatic herb recommended for chronic liver disease, inflammation of the gallbladder and to increase the secretion of the bile in general. Its astringency has led to its use traditionally as an anti-inflammatory and wound healing herb. It is a good choice for a mouthwash for inflamed gums and a gargle for a sore throat. Adding an antispasmodic action to this means it can be helpful in cases of diarrhoea and irritable bowel syndrome. Another attribute is its use as a relaxing diuretic to support the urinary system in cases of cystitis, urinary stones and incontinence. Jones says “agrimony is one of those herbs that is a medicine chest in itself…It surprises me that it is not prescribed more widely by herbalists…” 

 The late matriarch of Australian herbal medicine, Dorothy Hall, concurs saying of agrimony: “all the great herbalists mention this plant: all agree on its major uses. This in itself is rare, but the plant was mostly prescribed then on its own as a ‘simple’ [the use of one herb at a time].” In his eponymous book, Weiss’s Herbal Medicine, the author points out in the chapter on Diseases of the Liver and Biliary Tract that “real success will only be achieved if [agrimony] is used consistently for some time.” Weiss ranks agrimony as a tonic bitter that is a “gentle antidiarrhoeic drug.” It is said to be especially useful in children with irritations and infections in the intestinal tract.

References

Jones L. A Working Herbal Dispensary. Aeon Books:Glasgow. 2023. p40-3

Jones L. A Working Herbal Dispensary. Aeon Books:Glasgow. 2023. p40-3

Hall D. Dorothy Hall’s Herbal Medicine. Sydney:Lothian. 1988. p. 78, 314.

Weiss R. Herbal Medicine.Stuttgart: Thieme, 2001. p. 93