Herb library · Herb · Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony
A roadside plant with spikes of small yellow flowers and burs that cling to clothing, long drunk as a mildly astringent tea. Two small studies in people have looked at it, one of them a placebo-controlled trial in adults with raised liver enzymes.
Traditional use
Common across Europe, Asia and North America. It was used as a gargle, Indigenous peoples and Canadians gave the root for recurring fevers, and French peasants drank it in place of tea. Nineteenth-century American doctors used it as a mild astringent tonic for bowel complaints, bleeding and sore mouths and throats. European regulators accept it, on the strength of long use, for mild diarrhea, as a gargle for minor mouth and throat inflammation, and on minor skin inflammation and small superficial wounds.
Traditional energetics
Galenic (hot or cold, dry or moist)
Hot and dry in the first degree. Culpeper's Complete Herbal (1814), p. 230 (opens in a new tab)
What studies show
- Limited
Raised liver enzymes: a 2018 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 80 adults with mildly to moderately raised ALT found that 8 weeks of agrimony extract lowered ALT, AST and triglycerides more than placebo, with no severe side effects. It is one small trial.
- Insufficient
Mild diarrhea, sore mouth and throat, minor skin inflammation: EMA found no clinical trials for these uses and accepts them only on the basis of long-standing use. The one small study it found, in 20 people with a skin form of porphyria, had no control group and allowed no conclusions.
- Insufficient
Healthy adults: in a small one-month study of agrimony tea, markers of antioxidant capacity, inflammation (IL-6) and HDL cholesterol changed in a favorable direction. Blood markers are not health outcomes, and the study is preliminary.
Be careful of
Cautions
- AllergyDo not use it if you are allergic to agrimony. No adverse events were reported to EMA or in the literature it reviewed.
- ConditionFor diarrhea: see a doctor if it recurs, if there is blood in the stool, or if it lasts more than 3 days. For mouth, throat or skin use: see a doctor if symptoms last more than a week.
- ConditionNot recommended for children under 12 (lack of data). Mouse studies hint it might lower blood sugar; no interactions have been reported.
- PregnancySafety in pregnancy and breastfeeding has not been established, and EMA does not recommend it then.
- NoteIn the 2018 trial, agrimony extract was generally well tolerated over 8 weeks, with no severe side effects.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“According to Linnæus, a grateful beverage was prepared by steeping the plant in whey. Porcher states that an infusion of the leaves and stalks, previously treated with a weak bismuth solution, permanently dyes wool a beautiful, golden color, and that tanners employed the flowers in preparing soft and delicate hides. French peasants use it as a substitute for tea.”
Sources
- European Union herbal monograph on Agrimonia eupatoria L., herba (opens in a new tab) · EMA · read September 25, 2026
- Assessment report on Agrimonia eupatoria L., herba (opens in a new tab) · EMA · read September 25, 2026
- Agrimonia eupatoria L. (Agrimony) Extract Alters Liver Health in Subjects with Elevated Alanine Transaminase Levels: A Controlled, Randomized, and Double-Blind Trial (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Agrimonia eupatoria tea consumption in relation to markers of inflammation, oxidative status and lipid metabolism in healthy subjects (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.