Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Downy Agrimony

(Agrimonia pubescens)

galery
en

Description

Agrimonia pubescens, the soft agrimony or downy agrimony, is a flowering plant in the genus Agrimonia, a member of the rose family. It grows in dry areas and woodlands. Agrimonia pubescens is an erect perennial, growing upwards of 40 in (1,000 mm) tall. It has erect and canescent or pubescent stems. The five to thirteen leaflets are oblong and dentate, and pinnately divided once. The leaves are lanceolate, with the terminal leaflet being the largest, measuring 1.25–4 in (32–102 mm) long and 0.5–2 in (13–51 mm) wide. The leaflets increase in size as they approach the top of the compound leaf. At the base of each petiole is oval-shaped stipule with a serrated margin, measuring approximately 0.75 in (19 mm) long and 0.38 in (9.7 mm) wide. The yellow flowers are borne on spike-like racemes. Each flower is 0.25–0.33 in (6.4–8.4 mm) wide with five yellow petals and five to ten stamens. The five sparsely pubescent sepals alternate with the petals. The small flowers and conical fruit have short pedicels. The seeds have hook-like projections and are clustered in a bell-like shape.The glabrous calyx measures 0.08 in (2.0 mm) while fruiting. The plant flowers from July through September. The species was first described by John Torrey and Asa Gray as Agrimonia eupatoria var. mollis. It was raised to a species by Nathaniel Lord Britton after the description by Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wallroth. Agrimonia, commonly known as agrimony, is a genus of 12–15 species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with one species also in Africa. The species grow to between 0.5–2 m (1.6–6.6 ft) tall, with interrupted pinnate leaves, and tiny yellow flowers borne on a single (usually unbranched) spike. Agrimonia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including grizzled skipper (recorded on A. eupatoria) and large grizzled skipper. In ancient times, it was used for foot baths and tired feet. Agrimony has a long history of medicinal use. The English poet Michael Drayton once hailed it as an "all-heal" and through the ages it was considered a panacea.The ancient Greeks used agrimony to treat eye ailments, and it was made into brews for diarrhea and disorders of the gallbladder, liver, and kidneys. The Anglo-Saxons boiled agrimony in milk and used it to improve erectile performance.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Rosales
Family:Rosaceae
Genus:Agrimonia
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