Tiny burdock – Agrimonia Eupatoria

Description of tiny burdock:

Agrimonia eupatoria (Old or other familiar names: common burdock-grass, burdock-grass, queen-lady’s cabbage, apothecary’s cabbage) (Correctly: lesser burdock) Rosaceae – Rosaceae Perennial plant growing from a quarter to almost a metre tall. Stems dotted with glands. Leaves densely hairy on the backbone, elongated or ovate, with dentate serrations. Its golden-yellow flowers grow in long clusters. The calyx twines with the fruit and clings to the fur of animals as well as to human clothing with its hooked serials.

Occurrence:

Found in North America, northern Asia, Europe in large quantities. It grows in dry, sandy areas of our country, along roadsides and at the edges of scrub forests.

Part to be collected:

The above ground flowering part of the plant is collected and used as herba agrimoniae is marketed as such.

Active ingredient:

Tanning substances.

Collection and drying of small burdock:

The above-ground part of the plant, which flowers between June and July, is cut with a sickle or knife and spread out in a thick layer in an airy attic to dry it out of direct sunlight.

Cultivation of small burdock:

It is not at all fussy about the soil; it is grown by sowing seeds or by division. The plant requires 40 to 50 cm of space, 250 grams of seed or 30,000 seedlings are needed to plant one catastrophic acre. The yield per catastrophic acre is 10 – 12 q (mazsa) of leafy stems. As a primary honey-producing plant, it is important to beekeepers because it flowers even when the honeysuckle is in short supply.

Processing and marketing:

It is used in both general and folk medicine. Source: Dr Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses