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Yarrow
Achillea millefolium L.
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Family: Asteraceae,
Aster or Composite
Genus: Achillea
Description
General: aromatic plant, 10-80 cm tall.
Growth habit:
erect perennial from spreading rhizomes.
Stems:
simple or somewhat forked above, cobwebby-hairy
to smooth.
 Leaves: alternate, fern-like, 3-10 cm long, 2-3 times
pinnately divided into fine segments 1-2 mm wide. Lower
leaves are stalked.
 Flowerheads: white, sometimes pinkish, with 3-5 rays,
3-6 mm long and 10-30 inner yellowish disk florets.
Numerous heads in flat-topped
clusters, 2-10 cm wide.
Involucres 3-6 mm long with elliptic, dark-edged bracts in
several rows.
Flowering time: May-September.
 Fruits: hairless, flattened achenes without pappus.
Distribution
Common on plains, hills, slopes and disturbed ground in all
of MT. Also in AK and the rest of the U.S. except the
desert ares of the s.w.
 Medicinal plant: leaves, see below.
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(click on image for full size)
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(click on images for full size)
This aromatic herb has been used for 1000's of years as a medicine and insecticide plant. Yarrow tea and leaves have been applied externally to treat burns, boils, open sores, pimples, earaches, sore eyes and mosquito bites. The tea has also been taken internally to treat colds, diarrhea, fevers and even diabetes. Historically, yarrow was best known as a plant that stops bleeding. The alkaloid achilleine reduces clotting time of blood and has been used in modern-day medicine to suppress menstruation. |
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