roadside agrimony, Agrimonia striata

Our several species of agrimony all look very similar. They all have these small yellow flowers, followed by burs with hooked spines. One could hardly be blamed for lumping them all together and tossing them into a mental box of bothers. But it was not always so. In her 'Shaker Herbs' book, Amy Bess Miller describes several medicinal uses for these plants. She describes A. eupatoria, an European species, as common in the eastern US and Canada, which it is not. So she and the Shakers probably were lumping them, but they did appreciate them for treating "bowel complaints, gravel, asthma, coughs, and gonorrhea". Hopefully not often the latter, since the Shakers valued celibacy. Indians also found remedial value in Agrimony, or just used it for tea. Roadside agrimony is native, and grows mostly in partial shade in AL, AZ, CO, CT, DE, GA, IA, KY, MA, MD(E), ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, VT, WI, WV, WY, AB, BC, MB, NB, NF, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK, and on SPM. Alger Co MI, 7/14/14. Rose family, Rosaceae.