Application
Tormentil is still used as a herbal medicine. The plant is part of an approved herbal medicine for mild diarrhea and inflammation of the mouth and throat.
Tormentil has also been used to stop bleeding from wounds and to promote wound healing.
Externally, Tormentil has been used to treat warts and as an eye wash for eye inflammation.
Tormentil root is still widely used in herbal schnapps. It gives the schnapps a beautiful red color and a bitter taste. Tormentil root is an important component of the herbal mixture in Old Danish
Tormentil was formerly used for tanning. It was considered to provide a better tanning effect than oak bark.
Ingredients
18 – 30% tannin, 18% dye – Tormentil Red, also ellagin and quinovinic acid.
Potentilla erecta (L.)
Photo on page in Joachim Burser's herbarium.