Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is a familiar wildflower with an interesting and confused history. A member of the very large sunflower family, Asteraceae, it is quite closely related to wild and cultivated chamomiles.
Yarrow was named Achillea millefolium by Linnaeus in 1753. The genus name is based on the idea that Achilles, Spartan hero and demigod in the Iliad of Homer, used yarrow to heal wounds. I wanted to include the exact quote and was surprised by what I found. The Iliad never mentions yarrow. The healing passage, paraphrased frequently as “Achilles used yarrow to heal his soldiers” is
“The wounded Eurypylus replied:…’help me to my black ship, and cut out the arrow-head, and wash the dark blood from my thigh with warm water, and sprinkle soothing herbs with power to heal on my wound, whose use men say you learned from Achilles, whom the noble Centaur, Cheiron, taught. …’
… Patroclus lowered the wounded man to the ground, and cut the sharp arrow-head from his thigh. Next he washed the dark blood from the place with warm water, and rubbing a bitter pain-killing herb between his hands sprinkled it on the flesh to numb the agony. Then the blood began to clot, and ceased to flow.”
Both these stories appear in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder, written in Latin in the first century AD. In Book XXV, Chapter 19 Pliny the Elder wrote:
Pliny is pretty unconvincing that Achilles used yarrow to heal, but as far as I can tell, his is the oldest written version of this traditional story. The Trojan War was 1260-1240 BC and Homer lived 8th or 9th century BC, 300 years later. Pliny wrote 800 years after that. The identification of yarrow with Achilles is old and strong, but elusive.
| Yarrow leaves |
The word millefolium, means “thousand leaf” or “thousand leaves”, referring to the many leaflets on the finely-divided leaves. The usual English name yarrow is apparently derived from gearwe, an Anglo-Saxon name, or from the River Yarrow, Gaelic for rough stream. In other European languages, yarrow is commonly called some variation of milfoil, “thousand-leaf,” and that was what Linnaeus chose for the species name.
Very old sources give various names such as militaris and herba militaris for yarrow, which are versions of “soldier’s herb.” In European tradition, yarrow was highly regarded for treating wounds, especially bleeding wounds from iron weapons. Gerard in 1599 wrote “The leaves of Yarrow doe close up wounds, and keep them from inflammation…”
All over the world, herbal medicinal traditions have embraced yarrow. It goes back millennia in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine and was used in Native American medicine throughout North America. Indeed, a Neanderthal skull in Spain, from about 50,000 years ago, had traces of yarrow in his or her teeth (link). Since yarrow is bitter, the researchers believed the Neanderthals used it as medicine, not food.
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| Achillea millefolium yarrow |
And that will pretty well tell you why Achillea millefolium can be found all over the world. Traders and colonists who set out to the far corners of the world where they couldn’t assume any medical care would be available and didn’t know what plants they would find there, took reliable medicines with them. Yarrow seeds traveled in the pouches of traders and settlers to be planted around their dwellings, just in case.
Finally, I want to note that modern research has found yarrow to be effective for loss of appetite, mild gastrointestinal complaints and more. Check a responsible medical source.
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| Achillea millefolium yarrow |
Comments and corrections welcome.
References
Applequist, Wendy J. and Daniel E. Moerman. 2011. Yarrow (Achilleamillefolium L.): A neglected panacea? A review of ethnobotany, bioactivity and biomedical research. Economic Botany. 65(2): 209-225. print.
Blumenthal, Mark, ed. 2000. Herbal medicine. Expanded Commission E Monographs. American Botanical Council, Austin, TX. print.
Bostock, John translator, Pliny online
Chandler, R.F., S. N. Hooper and M.J. Harvey. 1982. Ethnobotany and phytochemistry of yarrow Achillea millefolium, Compositae. Economic Botany. 36 (2): 203-223. Print. Good table of uses by Native Americans
Gerard, John. 1633. The Herball or the General History of Plants. Johnson Publishers, London. Reprinted by Dover Publications, Inc. New York. (1975), Print. (Gerard’s first edition, 1599, is online but very difficult to navigate. In my edition, “Yarrow or Nose-bleed” is Chapter 438 on p. 1072-3, after Lousewort & Rattle, and before Valerian). Print.
Greenwald, ., T Brendler, and C Jaenicke, eds. 2007. PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) for Herbal Medicines. 4th ed. Thompson Publishers, Montvale, NJ. Print.
Translations of the Iliad online:
Butler, Samuel. 1898 Iliad The Literature Network. Link
Kline, A. S. 2009. Poetry in Translation. The Iliad. Link
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