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The 100 or so species of yarrows are herbaceous perennials, most with fragrant lacy foliage and small daisy-like flowerheads borne in rounded corymbs. Common yarrow has leaves that are grayish green, aromatic, and very finely dissected, like soft dainty ferns. The plant forms dense spreading mats of lacy leaves from rhizomes that creep beneath the ground surface. In summer yarrow sends up erect, grayish, usually unbranched stems, 1-3 ft (0.3-0.9 m) tall. The fifty or more small, about 0.25 in (0.6 cm) across with whitish flowerheads are borne in flat to domed clusters, 2-3 in (5-7.6 cm) in diameter. Although wild yarrow is a troublesome weed in fields and gardens, horticulturists have created, selected and hybridized many outstanding cultivars which are beautiful flowering perennials. Many of these have branched flowering stems and larger flower clusters. Some are selected for stronger stems that don't require staking. Among the many cultivars of A. millefoilum, are these beauties: 'Cerise Queen' with vivid pink flowerheads; 'Fire King' red; 'Lilac Beauty' lavender; 'Paprika' orange-red; and 'White Beauty' with snow white flowerheads. There are hundreds of cultivars that have been created by crossing and backcrossing among a dozen or so species of Achillea. The Galaxy hybrids, of which A. millefolium is a parent, have much stronger stems, larger, 4-5 in (10.2-12.7 cm) flower clusters and come in many different flower colors. They are usually identified with the genus and cultivar name. A. 'Apfelblute' has an upright, open habit and gets 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) tall with purple-pink flowers. A. 'Fanal' has bright red flowers with yellow centers. A. 'Hoffnung' has creamy yellow flowers. A. 'Taygetea', with pale yellow flowers, is the other parent of the Galaxy hybrids and is itself believed to be a hybrid between A. millefolium and A. clypeolata, a small species from Romania. A. X 'Moonshine' is a popular yellow-flowered yarrow with 'Taygetea' and A. clypeolata in its parentage.
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Usage
Common yarrow has been used as a salad green, beer additive, snuff, poultice, wound dressing, astringent, antidepressant, stimulant, antispasmodic, fever reducer, blood pressure reducer, perspiration inducer and baldness preventer for centuries, and Grieve's "A Modern Herbal" lists 17 different English common names. In Roman times it was called herba militaris and much valued for treating wounds. Linnaeus, the father of botanical nomenclature, coined the generic name Achillea, in honor of Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad, who used yarrow to treat his soldiers' war wounds. (But, alas, yarrow couldn't save Achilles himself when he was shot with an arrow through his heel.) Yarrow has been called "nose bleed" because it was used to induce nose bleeding as a way to cure a headache, but it also was used to stop bleeding, including nose bleeds! Held against a wound, yarrow is supposed to stem the bleeding and disinfect. It also has been assigned magical properties and used to determine the nature of another's true love. Yarrow actually may be useful in treating circulatory problems, fever, colds, flu, high blood pressure and hay fever, but, despite its long history of use, there has been surprisingly little research into its efficacy and safety.
Steve Christman 10/17/00; updated 5/24/02, 10/23/03
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