Known botanically as Achillea millefolium, it is an attractive plant. Flowers bloom throughout the summer, adding a fresh look to sun-dried meadows. It’s a tough flower that can live in both damp and dry spots and from rocky hillsides to gravel surfaces. It can be seen on roadsides, clearings and open woods from low to high elevations.
The leaves are fern-like, wooly to the touch, and fragrant when crushed. The flowers can range from pure white to creamy or reddish. Flowers grow in tight, generally flat-topped clusters, but may be round-topped, as well. Each of the tiny flowers of the cluster is secured around a yellow center disk.
Yarrow grows from underground rhizomes and spreads rapidly.
A Flower of Ancient History and Legend
The yarrow plant has been known since prehistoric times. Archeologists have even found yarrow flowers in the graves of the Neanderthal people who roamed Europe and the Middle East before the arrival of our own human species tens of thousands of years ago.
According to legend, yarrow was used by the Greek warrior Achilles to staunch bleeding of wounded soldiers during the Battle of Troy. From this legend comes the “Achillea” its scientific name.
Another legend holds that sleeping with yarrow under the pillow at night will produce dreams of a future partner. Some ancient people used yarrow in love spells.
The yarrow has been called by many names, including plumajillo, a Spanish word meaning “little feather,” a reference to the feathery leaves. Other names include soldier’s woundwort, milfoil and soldier herb.
Yarrow Was Used in Medical Remedies
People have used Yarrow in medicinal preparations since ancient times. Native Americans of various Pacific Northwest tribes used it as a poultice, for sore throats, colds and coughs, as a childbirth aid and as a general tonic.
Medicinal preparations of yarrow are still used by many people today.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, there has been little scientific investigation of yarrow as an herbal medicine. They note, however, that it can be considered for indigestion, wound healing, and to bring down fevers through sweating, among other uses.
Preparations are available through health stores and web retailers.
In the wild, yarrow is easily confused with poison hemlock, one of the most deadly plants in the Northern Hemisphere, so caution is required before collecting yarrow.
Though sometimes considered weedy, yarrow is an attractive wildflower and a welcome sight to many along roadways and in rural fields.
Related Articles:
Summer-blooming Native Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Stinging Nettles Have Been Used for Tea, Twine, and Tincture
Northwest Wildflowers of Lewis and Clark
References:
Peterson Field Guides-- Edible Wild Plants, by Lee Allen Peterson, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1977.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest, by Peter Alden, Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y., 1998.
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon, Lone Pine Publishing, Vancouver, B.C., 1994.
Hub Pages: Flower Meanings and Uses
Linda McDonnell - I have been a journalist for 20 years, currently freelancing. As an outdoor and nature lover, I particularly enjoy writing about outdoor ...
