EUPATORIUM, HEMP-AGRIMONY: A genus of the polygamia æqualis order, belonging to the syngenesia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, Compositæ. The receptacle is naked; the pappus feathery; the calyx imbricated and oblong; the style semibifid and long. There are 13 species, many of them herbaceous flowery perennials, producing annual stalks from two to three or five feet high, terminated by clusters of compound flowers of a red, purple, or white, colour. They are easily propagated by seeds, or parting the roots in autumn or spring. One species, viz. the cannabinum, or water hemp-agrimony, is a native of Britain. It is found wild by the sides of rivers and ditches, and has pale-red blossoms. It has an acrid smell, and a very bitter taste, with a considerable share of pungency. The leaves are much recommended for strengthening the tone of the viscera, and as an aperient; and said to have excellent effects in the dropsy, jaundice, cachexies, and scorbutic disorders. Boerhaave informs us, that this is the common medicine of the turf-diggers in Holland, against scurries, foul ulcers, and swellings in the feet, to which they are subject. The root of this plant is said to operate as a strong cathartic: but it is hardly used in Britain, and has no place in our pharmacopœia.