Yarrow
Achillea millefolium L.
Botanical family: Asteraceae
A hardy, cosmopolitan perennial of the Asteraceae family (Achillea millefolium), yarrow grows in the dry meadows of Europe and temperate Asia, with finely cut foliage and white umbels.
Full sun
Dry, poor
Low, tolerates drought and poor soils
Very hardy
Overwinters in your zone
Role in permaculture
A first-rate insectary plant: its flat umbels and long flowering season put nectar and pollen within reach of small beneficials, hoverflies whose larvae devour aphids, parasitic micro-wasps (ichneumons), bees and predatory wasps. Set along a vegetable border or sown into a flowering meadow, it acts as a reservoir of beneficial insects right beside the crops. Undemanding, it thrives in poor, dry soil, where it also doubles as a drought-tolerant ground cover. Tradition holds it to be a good companion and a compost activator, its finely cut leaves enriching the heap.
Good companions
Traditional companion planting (benefit not demonstrated)
Insects attracted or useful
Seasons & availability
A perennial: sown in spring, from March to May, or increased by dividing the clump; it flowers and its flowering tops are picked from June to September, then dried for the rest of the year.
Available: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
Guidance for the oceanic / temperate climate; it may vary with your region, altitude, exposure and growing method.
Sources
- Plants For A Future, « Achillea millefolium » (pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Achillea+millefolium)
- Tela Botanica, « Achillea millefolium L. » (tela-botanica.org/bdtfx-nn-365-description)
Nutritional & medicinal properties
For educational purposes. Not a substitute for medical advice. Effects depend on the form, the dose and personal context.
Precautions & contraindications
When foraging at the leaves-only stage, do not confuse yarrow (an Asteraceae: very finely divided 'thousand-leaf' foliage, camphor smell, solid hairy stem, under 80 cm) with a toxic umbellifer such as poison hemlock (Conium maculatum): hemlock has a smooth stem blotched with purple, an unpleasant smell ('mouse urine') and can reach 2 m. To be avoided in pregnancy (a uterotonic action traditionally described). Possible interactions with anticoagulants at high dose. Possible allergies to Asteraceae (composites): do a skin test before repeated use.
In the kitchen & the apothecary
Where to find yarrow in preparations: recipes and traditional herbal teas.
Recipes
Infusions & herbal teas
Family behaviour: Asteraceae
In general, Asteraceae are a family rich in flowers appreciated by pollinators and beneficials (pot marigold, yarrow, chamomile). It is very scattered, from the mildest lettuce to the allelopathic sunflower.
Understanding families means learning one rule per family rather than every pairing one by one. Learn more →
Species & varieties
The best-known species and varieties in France.
Common varieties
Voices of peoples
Paraphrases attributed to their documented sources. Never an invented quote.
Ancient Greco-Roman medicine, Pliny the Elder (Rome) and Dioscorides (Greek physician) · Mediterranean, 1st century AD
It is from that world that the very name of the plant comes. Pliny the Elder reports that Achilles, a pupil of the centaur Chiron, is said to have discovered a plant good for wounds, called for that reason 'achilleos', hence the genus name Achillea. Dioscorides, for his part, describes a 'sideritis achilleios' reputed to close wounds and stop haemorrhages. In antiquity, the plant also bore the name herba militaris, the 'soldiers' herb', for its use in staunching the blood of wounds.
Pline l'Ancien, Naturalis Historia (Ier s.) ; Dioscoride, De materia medica ; synthèse historique : American Herbal Products Association, « Herbs in History: Yarrow » (ahpa.org), qui cite verbatim le passage de Pline (« achilleos ») et la sideritis achilleios de Dioscoride.
An important nuance against romanticism: the legend of Achilles healing with this plant does NOT appear in Homer's Iliad; the Achilles/Telephus episode is fixed only from the 5th c. BC (Pindar, Euripides), and Pliny is the oldest written source linking the plant's name to Achilles. This link is presented here as a legendary etymology, not as a historical fact.
Cherokee (Tsalagi / Aniyvwiya) · South-eastern United States, southern Appalachians
Among the Cherokee, the leaves of yarrow were traditionally used against haemorrhages, and an infusion of the plant against fever.
Article évalué : « The Phytochemistry of Cherokee Aromatic Medicinal Plants » (PMC6313439), qui documente ces usages cherokee ; la donnée ethnobotanique primaire renvoie à Hamel & Chiltoskey, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses (1975).
Attribution confirmed by reading the peer-reviewed article; the primary source (Hamel & Chiltoskey 1975) was not consulted directly. An ordinary medicinal use, not ceremonial.
Before you forage
This plant is often gathered from the wild. Only pick what is abundant, never a protected species, and never uproot a whole plant (roots) without the landowner's permission. Rules vary by country and region, check locally.
Key takeaways
- • Prefers full sun exposure.
- • Ideal soil: dry, poor.
- • Classic companion: Tomato.