Gewöhnlicher Obermennig (MVP)

Gewöhnlicher Obermennig

Agrimonia eupatoria

Summary ⁶

Agrimonia eupatoria is a species of agrimony that is often referred to as common agrimony, church steeples or sticklewort.

Vegetative characteristics ⁶

The common agrimony grows as a deciduous, perennial herbaceous plant and reached heights of up to 100 centimeters. Its roots are deep rhizomes, from which spring the stems. It is characterized by its typical serrated edged pinnate leaves.

Generative characteristics ⁶

The short-stemmed flowers appear from June to September, in long, spike-like, racemose inflorescences. The single flower has an urn-shaped curved flower cup, the upper edge has several rows of soft, curved hook-shaped bristles, 1 to 4 millimeters long. The hermaphrodite flower has fivefold radial symmetry. There are five sepals present . There are five yellow, rounded petals. The petals and the five to 20 stamens rise above the tip of the flower cup . The two medium-sized carpels in the flower cups are sunk into, but not fused with it. The flowers with their abundant pollen supply attract hoverflies, flies and honey bees. The pollinated flowers develop fruits with burs. These attach to passing grazing animals such as cattle, sheep and deer and are spread over a large area.

Traditional herbal medicine ⁷

The 9th-century text Bald's Leechbook advised the use of Agrimony as a cure for male impotence - saying it should be boiled in milk, and that it could excite a man who was "insufficiently virile"; it also states that when boiled in Welsh beer it would have the opposite effect.

A. gryposepala, the plant's North American relative, also has traditional medical uses.

Associations ⁸

Foodplant / miner
larva of Fenella nigrita mines leaf of Agrimonia eupatoria

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Hartigia linearis feeds within stem of Agrimonia eupatoria
Other: sole host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Hyalopeziza millepunctata is saprobic on dead stem of Agrimonia eupatoria
Remarks: season: 5-10

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed or semi-immersed pseudothecium of Lophiostoma angustilabrum is saprobic on dead stem of Agrimonia eupatoria
Remarks: season: 2-10
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed or semi-immersed pseudothecium of Lophiostoma caulium is saprobic on dead stem of Agrimonia eupatoria
Remarks: season: 1-12

Foodplant / saprobe
partly immersed pseudothecium of Lophiostoma fuckelii var. fuckelii is saprobic on dead stem of Agrimonia eupatoria
Remarks: season: 3-10

Foodplant / saprobe
usually immersed pseudothecium of Lophiostoma vagabundum is saprobic on dead stem of Agrimonia eupatoria
Remarks: season: 1-12

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
Podosphaera aphanis parasitises live Agrimonia eupatoria

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous, often confluent uredium of Pucciniastrum agrimoniae parasitises live leaf of Agrimonia eupatoria
Remarks: season: 7-9
Other: major host/prey

Sources and Credits

(c) Steve Chilton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/73779416@N00/614709468
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Agrimonia-eupatoria-64784.JPG
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JOM-Agrimonia-eupatoria-00001.jpg
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Agrimonia-eupatoria-64783.JPG
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/JCS%20Agrimonia%20eupatoria%2045283.jpg
Adapted by Bea Steinemann from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrimonia_eupatoria
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrimonia_eupatoria
Adapted by Bea Steinemann from a work by (c) BioImages, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22908557

More Info

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