Yarrow
Common Name: Milfoil, western yarrow, bloodwort, carpenter’s weed, boreal yarrow, California yarrow, giant yarrow, coast yarrow, Pacific yarrow, devil’s nettle, nosebleed plant, old man’s pepper, old man’s mustard, sanguinary, soldier’s woundwort, thousand-leaf, thousand-seal, knight’s milfoil, noble yarrow, staunch grass, soldier’s woundwort, devil’s plaything, bad man’s plaything, yarroway, herb militaris, field hop, millefolium, ladies mantle, gandana, i-chi-kao and gearwe, yerw.
Scientific Name: Achillea millefolium
Climate: Cold, temperate
Plant description: It is a perennial herb belonging to the compositae family.
The stem is erect, hard, rough and covered with hair. Its fruits are achenes.
The leaves are long, lanceolate, alternate, aromatic, bipinnate and sectioned green, 10-15 cm. long and 3 wide, crossing the stem at the base, the segments very finely cut, and the leaves giving a feather or lace appearance.
The flowers are bell-shaped, lilac, white, pink or red. It blooms from June to September.
The plant can grow up to a meter giving beautiful cocoons with white rays and yellow discs; all of them located at the same height.
It can grow from sea level to 3,500 m.
It is a native species of Eurasia, today it is scattered throughout the world.
Cultivation: It grows everywhere, with the grass, in meadows, gardens, it spreads rapidly by seeds or by division of bushes every two or three years. For that reason, it is recommended to grow it in a pot so that it does not spread too much.
It is a very tolerant plant to any type of climate, requires temperate-cold conditions and is well resistant to frost (up to −15 ° C). She wants full sun.
It adapts well to all types of soils (acidic or basic, limestone, dry), as long as they are well drained since it does not resist flooding. Therefore, it prefers sandy and cool soils over clay and compact soils. It grows well in poor soils.
The harvest should be picked when the plant has flowers, on a dry day and in the morning, when the dew has evaporated. The leaves should be cut from the stems and placed on a paper covered tray to dry in a clear, airy room, away from direct sunlight.
The flowers are left on the stems and hung in small inverted bouquets in a very warm room. Dried flowers should be stored separately, and the dried stems are cut into small segments before storing in a tightly sealed dark glass container.
Uses: Yarrow contains isovaleric acid, salicylic acid, asparagine, sterols, alkaloids, tannins, achilein, ivain, and flavonoids. It is believed to have antioxidant and antioxidant activity. The leaves, stems and flowers are used for medicinal purposes.
It has hemostatic properties in case of bleeding, against menstrual pain, in the internal treatment of gastric disorders and diarrhea, useful in spasms of the digestive tract thanks to its antispasmodic action, also in case of general fatigue; its bitter principle is tonic and digestive. It is also a disinfectant, astringent and suitable for external uses against varicose veins and hemorrhoids. It can also be useful as an insect repellent.
The North American varieties were traditionally used by many Native Americans in different ways, they chewed the plant for toothaches and used its infusions for earaches, as a pain reliever and cold remedy, they reduce fever and help restful sleep.
Plagues and diseases: It is food for a wide variety of insects.
References:
colaboradores de Wikipedia. (2020, January 18). Achillea millefolium. Wikipedia, La Enciclopedia Libre. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_millefolium
EcuRed. (n.d.). Milenrama - EcuRed. Retrieved August 11, 2020, from https://www.ecured.cu/Milenrama
Milenrama. (n.d.). Ya Salud. Retrieved August 11, 2020, from https://yasalud.com/milenrama/
Remedios con milenrama para menopausia, piel y más. (2017, December 1). Remedios Caseros y Naturales - Remedios Populares. https://www.remediospopulares.com/milenrama.html
Wikipedia contributors. (2020, August 1). Achillea millefolium. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_millefolium
En español: Milenrama