The whole plant, Achillea Millefolium, Linné.
Nat. Ord.—Compositæ.
Common Names.—Yarrow, Milfoil, Thousand leaf.
Illustration: Bentley and Trimen., Med. Plants, 153; Woodville, Med. Bot., 15.
Botanical Source and Description.—Yarrow is a common perennial plant from 1 to 3 feet in height, bearing dark-green, crowded, alternate, bi-pinnatifid leaves. The flowers, which are grayish-white (occasionally rose-colored), are arranged in a flat-top, corymbose head. The odor is peculiar, being pleasantly and highly aromatic, somewhat resembling chamomile. The taste is sharp, bitterish, astringent, and slightly saline.
History.—Yarrow is a common wayside herb, and is also found growing wild in fields, pastures, and waste places throughout the central portions of North America and Europe. It flowers from May to October, during which time it should be gathered (preferably during July), and after rejecting the coarser stems, should be carefully dried. The weight, after drying, is but 15 per cent of the amount collected. The leaves are more astringent than the flowers, the latter being more aromatic than the former. The American plant is said to be more valuable than the European species. Achillea was known to the ancients. Pliny states that the generic term, Achillea, was named from Achilles, a physician, who was one of the first to use a species of this plant as a vulnerary. Yarrow is sold by the native herbalists of India, like rosemary, where it is used as a bitter and in medicated vapor baths for fevers (Dymock). The Italians employed it in intermittent fevers, and in the Scottish highlands it is made into ointment for wounds. According to Linnæus the Dalecarlians used it as a substitute for hops in the making of ale, believing it to impart to it intoxicating qualities. Both Stahl and Haller used this plant extensively.
Only the opening of the article is transcribed; Chemical Composition and Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage follow.