[swcoloradowildflowers.com] Euro-Asia native, Description, Etymology: Poterium sanguisorba was introduced to the northern hemisphere from Euro-Asia for erosion control. Fortunately its slow growth rate has kept it from becoming a nuisance species in the United States. Poterium sanguisorba is a perennial, growing to over 2 feet tall with basal leaves 2-8 inches long and stem leaves reduced in size. One is certainly first attracted to Poterium sanguisorba by its ball-head spike of strange flowers - attractively red filamentary. Male and female floral parts are separate, with the lower flowers usually staminate and the upper flowers usually pistillate but sometimes perfect. The flowers have 4 broad, petal-like sepals; true petals are absent. In 1753 Linnaeus named the Poterium genus and he named this species Poterium sanguisorba. Scopoli renamed the species Sanguisorba minor in 1772. "Poterium" is Greek for "drinking cup"; "sanguisorba" is Latin for "absorbs blood" (from bygone notions about the medicinal value of this plant); and "muricatum" is Latin for "pointed". (link added by Mary Ann Machi)