144 Potentilla anserina
shire^143 resorted to this, and it survived in rural parts of the Eastern Counties
till the 1940s at least.^144 Similarly, the bruised leaves, mixed with salt and vine-
gar, were applied to the soles to allay the heat in fevers. Far away in Shetland,
however, the plant has been found in use only for digestive complaints.^145
In Ireland the plant has had very different applications: in Londonderry
(as mashcoms) to staunch diarrhoea or bleeding piles,^146 on the Clare-Galway
border for heart trouble^147 and in Co. Dublin ‘for a man’s health’—whatever
that meant.^148
Potentilla erecta (Linnaeus) Raeuschel
tormentil,^149 aert bark, tormenting root
Europe, western Asia, North Africa, Azores, Labrador
With the thickest roots, with a higher proportion of tannin in them,Potentilla
erecta was the native species of the genus much the most widely employed as
an ‘astringent’ (though because of its powerful effect it needed to be used
with discretion). Pre-eminently a plant of acid, heathy ground, its records as
a medicinal plant are correspondingly largely from the north and west of the
British Isles, where it has served as the principal cure for diarrhoea above all,
though also for cuts in Cumbria.^150 Forits stimulating effect, on the other
hand, it has been valued as a tonic in Norfolk^151 and Shetland,^152 for fevers in
Devon^153 and as a gargle for enlarged tonsils and throat trouble in Norfolk.^154
In South Uist in the Outer Hebrides it was a multi-purpose herb, curing any
suppurating sore, a corn or even indigestion.^155 In the Highlands it has been
an antidote for worms,^156 in Perthshire a lotion for sunburn^157 and in Glou-
cestershire an alternative to silverweed (P. anserina) and blackberry (Rubus
fruticosus) as a balm for the feet.^158
In Ireland the lesser uses recorded are fewer but similar: for cuts in
Cavan,^159 for obstructions or other trouble in the liver in ‘Ulster’^160 and for
burns and scalds in some unspecified county (or counties).^161
Potentilla reptans Linnaeus
creeping cinquefoil
Europe, North Africa, western Asia; introduced into North and
South America, Australasia
Potentilla reptanshas owed its place in folk medicine to its being mistaken for
the more potent tormentil (P. e r e c t a)^162 or being used in its stead in regions
with little or no acid ground suitable for that. In Gloucestershire it was one of
three ingredients in a tea much drunk as a remedy for ‘red rash’ (erysipelas?),^163
while in Essex a tea made wholly from it has been esteemed as a digestive.^164
In Ireland it has been recorded as much valued for ‘ague’ in Cavan.^165