[1] A herbaceous perennial plant which grows to about 1 m tall, with a branched or unbranched green stem covered in glandular hairs which are 2 mm long or slightly longer.

The hypanthium develops into a characteristic brown, oval or bell-shaped fruit with deep lateral grooves and a double ring of hooked bristles around its centre, which contains 1 or 2 achenes.

[2][3] The habitat of fragrant agrimony in Britain and Ireland is woodland margin, scrub, road verges and tall grassland, on circumneutral (neither acid nor alkaline), sometimes damp, soils.

[10] Despite having a bitter taste, agrimony is popular in herbal teas and is often touted as having health benefits in humans, although medical sources stress that evidence about efficacy and safety is generally lacking.

[11] Claims about its use in the past may be exaggerated: the Roman author Celsus, who was influential in medicine for over a thousand years, only mentions agrimony as a possible cure for snake bites.