Yarrow Health Dictionary

Synonym: Milfoil, Nosebleed, Thousand-leaf.

Habitat: A wayside herb, also often seen in the pasture and meadow lands of Europe and the United States.

Features ? Yarrow has a rough, angular stem, and grows from twelve to eighteen inches in height. The alternate leaves are pinnatifid, clasp the stem at the base, are slightly woolly, and are cut into very fine segments. The flowers are small, white (occasionally pink or purplish), daisy-like, and bloom in dense, flattened, terminal corymbs, appearing at their best in July.

Part used: Herb.

Action: Diaphoretic, stimulant and tonic.

The herb is extremely useful in colds and acute catarrhs of the respiratory tract generally. As it has the effect of opening the pores, thus permitting free perspiration, Yarrow is taken at the commencement of influenza and in other feverish conditions. An infusion of 1 ounce to 1 pint of foiling water is drunk warm in wineglass doses. As a very popular remedy for influenza colds it is usually combined with Elder flowers and Peppermint in equal quantities. It was sometimes prescribed by the old herbalists as a tonic in nervous debility, but there are many better herbal medicines for this condition.

Habitat: A wayside herb, also often seen in the pasture and meadow lands of Europe and the United States. Features ? Yarrow has a rough, angular stem, and grows from twelve to eighteen inches in height. The alternate leaves are pinnatifid, clasp the stem at the base, are slightly woolly, and are cut into very fine segments. The flowers are small, white (occasionally pink or purplish), daisy-like, and bloom in dense, flattened, terminal corymbs, appearing at their best in July. Part used ? Herb.

Action: Diaphoretic, stimulant and tonic. The herb is extremely useful in colds and acute catarrhs of the respiratory tract generally. As it has the effect of opening the pores, thus permitting free perspiration, Yarrow is taken at the commencement of influenza and in other feverish conditions. An infusion of 1 ounce to 1 pint of foiling water is drunk warm in wineglass doses. As a very popular remedy for influenza colds it is usually combined with Elder flowers and Peppermint in equal quantities. It was sometimes prescribed by the old herbalists as a tonic in nervous debility, but there are many better herbal medicines for this condition.

FAMILY: Asteraceae (Compositae)

SYNONYMS: Milfoil, common yarrow, nosebleed, thousand leaf – and many other country names.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A perennial herb with a simple stem up to 1 metre high, with finely dissected leaves giving a lacy appearance, bearing numerous pinky-white, dense flowerheads.

DISTRIBUTION: Native to Eurasia; naturalized in North America. Now found in most temperate zones of the world. The oil is mainly distilled in Germany, Hungary, France and Yugoslavia, also the USA and Africa.

OTHER SPECIES: A very extensive species. Other varieties include the Ligurian yarrow (A. ligustica) and the musk yarrow or iva (A. moschata), which also produces an essential oil containing mainly cineol – used in the preparation of ‘iva liquor’, a medicinal aperitif.

HERBAL/FOLK TRADITION: An age-old herbal medicine used for a wide variety of complaints including fever, respiratory infections, digestive problems, nervous tension and externally for sores, rashes and wounds. Its use in the treatment of wounds is said to go back to Achilles who used it for injuries inflicted by iron weapons.

It is used in China mainly for menstrual problems and haemorrhoids. In Norway it is also used for rheumatism. The stalks are traditionally used for divination in the I Ching, the Chinese classic. It is current in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia as a specific for thrombotic conditions with hypertension.

ACTIONS: Anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antirheumatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, cicatrisant, diaphoretic, digestive, expectorant, haemostatic, hypotensive, stomachic, tonic.

EXTRACTION: Essential oil by steam distillation from the dried herb.

CHARACTERISTICS: A dark blue or greenish olive liquid with a fresh, green, sweet herbaceous, slightly camphoraceous odour. It blends well with cedarwood, pine, chamomile, valerian, vetiver and oakmoss.

PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS: Azulene (up to 51 per cent), pinenes, caryophyllene, borneol, terpineol, cineol, bornyl acetate, camphor, sabinene and thujone, among others. Constituents, especially azulene levels, vary according to source.

SAFETY DATA: Non-toxic, non-irritant, possible sensitization in some individuals.

AROMATHERAPY/HOME: USE

Skin care: Acne, burns, cuts, eczema, hair rinse (promotes hair growth), inflammations, rashes, scars, tones the skin, varicose veins, wounds.

Circulation muscles and joints: Arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, thrombosis.

Digestive system: Constipation, cramp, flatulence, haemorrhoids, indigestion.

Genito-urinary system: Amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, cystitis and other infections.

Immune system: Colds, fever, ’flu, etc.

Nervous system: Hypertension, insomnia, stress-related conditions.

OTHER USES: Occasionally used in pharmaceutical bath preparations for skin conditions. Limited use in perfumes and aftershaves. Employed as a flavour ingredient in vermouths and bitters.