Agrimonia eupatoria - STICKLEWORT

Names:

Common agrimony, church steeples, sticklewort, stickwort, burr marigold, cockeburr, rat's tail, Aaron's rod.

Bloom / Picking:

It blossoms in June and July and this is also the time when it is best to pick the flowers.

Environment:

It can be found in dry meadows, in bushes or at the edges of forests in the lowlands all the way to mountain areas. All in all, it is a very prevalent plant for which you want have to go through too much trouble to find.

Interesting Facts:

Even in ancient times, it was used for healing wounds but it wasn't until recently that it started being used for healing bladder diseases.

Attributes:

Anti-inflammatory
Antibacterial
Astringent (stops bleeding and the excretion of other secretes, also useful for binding body tissue together)

For the Drug:

The whole plant or just the leaves are picked when it is in bloom (June/July) because this is the time of year when the amount of active matter in the plant is at its highest. The plant is dried to get a drug that really has no smell but has a very bitter taste.

It Is Used for:

Diarrhea (both light and acute)
General stomach and intestinal pains
Gallstone (a.k.a. gall-sand)
Draining gall (eases spasmodic pains and prevents gallstone)
Healing wounds
Rinsing gums and the gullet in case of inflammation
Cystitis and other uric infections
Washing wounds and abscesses
Angina

Preparations:

Tea:

2 teaspoons of the drug + 6dcl water
This should be enough for 3 cups a day (as is recommended). It can be used for rinsing gums, gargling and cleaning wounds.

Ointment:

3 spoons pig fat + 2 spoons finely-chopped drug (so it must be dried beforehand)
Melt the fat in a pot over a small fire and while it is still warm (not hot!) add the drug. Let the mixture cool down and consolidate. Melt the mixture again over a small fire and leave it to cool down again. Repeat this process two more times and then filter the ointment into a container.
This ointment is great for stopping bleeding and healing wounds.

Tea Mixture:

Each of the following mixtures is made using the drug of the listed herbs (i.e. dried herbs). Take care to use the said quantity and said part of the plant. The tea is made using 2 teaspoons of the mixture and 6dcl of water. You can drink 2-3 cups of a mixture per day.

For the bladder (is drunk periodically):
Sticklewort greens (40g) + cleaver greens (30g) + woodruff greens (30g)

For the kidneys and gallstones:

Sticklewort greens (40g) + spiny restharrow root (30g) + birch leaf (30g)

For calming, stopping convulsions, stopping diarrhea, it is drunk half an hour before each meal:
Sticklewort greens (20g) + sage leaf (20g) + blackberry leaf (20g) + chamomile flower (20g) + peppermint leaf (20g)

Sedentary Bath:

200g of the plant for a full bath
It is recommended to basically everyone since it helps with varicose veins, cleansing wounds and abscesses and helps aid exterior wounds in general. It is especially helpful for children with scrofula (the inflammation of lymph nodes in the neck in children).

Warnings:

There actually aren't any. No unwanted effects have been noted and it is even an advisable plant for children to use.