Bitterroot Restoration

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae
 Division: Magnoliophyta
  Class: Magnoliopsida
   Order: Asterales
    Family: Asteraceae
     Genus: Achillea
      Species: A. millefolium L.

Common name: Yarrow, Gordaldo, Nosebleed plant, sneezewort, Sanguinary, Milfoil, Soldier's friend
Edible Parts: Flowers, leaves
Life cycle: It is an erect herbaceous perennial plant.
Light: Full sun.
Native Range: It is native and widespread in the United States and grows throughout Europe and Asia as well.
Habitat: Meadow, Lawn, Ground Cover.

Description: They are usually between one and two feet tall but are occasionally shorter, and may be smooth-or rough-textured. The leaves are larger at the base and progressively smaller toward the top of the stalks and are arranged alternately. It is in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen from July to September. The white, or sometimes pink, flowers appear in flat-topped clusters, beginning in early summer and continuing through early fall.

Medicinal Uses: An aromatic tea is made from the flowers and leaves, which is a very good diaphoretic and also makes a bitter tonic which stimulates digestion. Additionally, it's expectorant,  Antiinflammatory, Antiseptic, Antispasmodic, Aromatic, Astringent, Carminative, Cholagogue, Diaphoretic, Digestive, Emmenagogue, Odontalgic, Stimulant, Tonic, Vasodilator, Vulnerary.

Common Yarrow is an erect herbaceous perennial plant that produces one to several stems (0.2 to 1m tall) and has a rhizomatous growth form. Common yarrow has been used as a salad green, wound dressing, astringent, antidepressant, stimulant, antispasmodic, fever reducer, blood pressure reducer, beer additive, snuff, poultice, perspiration inducer and baldness preventer for centuries.

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.

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. Yarrow actually may be useful in treating circulatory problems, fever, colds, flu, high blood pressure and hay fever.