Actually, I'm hoping to revive this old blog. I've been visiting a cool herb site, "Little Herban Homestead." I got interested in the herb agrimony from them but I haven't identified it yet. (No, it has nothing to do with aggravation in matrimony!) All I know is that it has a spike of small yellow flowers. I've been watching closely for yellow spikes, but all I've seen is an obvious clover that blooms all over the place. Anyway, I went to a friend's country place today and parked right beside a yellow spike!! Immediately I thought of the elusive but intriguing agrimony. I brought a sample home to check my books. While on the way, I thought, wouldn't it be funny if this is moth mullein or something. Sure enough, that's what it was. I planted it in one of my pots out front. We'll see if it grows. I'm not sure if it has much medicinal value. The scientific name is Verbascum blattaria, and it's in the snapdragon family.
If you know anything about wildflowers, you know these two plants are really not that similar. Agrimony is in the rose family. I think it's a little early for it to bloom. Moth mullein , on the other hand, has larger blooms. The leaves are a lot different, too. Agrimony has composite leaves while moth mullein has wavy-edged lancolate leaves.
Obviously, I'm just a amateur at this whole wild-crafting thing. I love wild plants, though, and June in the Ozarks is certainly a good time to go out botanizing! (If you don't mind the occasional tick or chigger.)
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