Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
by Suzanne Tabert
Yarrow follows the wind.
It thrives in many environments, from the salt air and water of the sea, along river beds, city parks and sidewalk cracks, in disturbed areas and gardens, fields, and mountains. In the Pacific Northwest, yarrow grows from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, across the cities and farms, up into the mountains, over with the wind to the high deserts of the central and east, then continues across the country.
Its botanical name, Achillea millefolium, means “the thousand leaves of Achilles.” In Greek mythology, Achilles was one of the greatest warriors of all time. When he was a baby, Thetis, his mother, attempted to make her son immortal by dipping him into the River Styx, the river that runs through the underworld, but as she gripped his heel so hard to keep the river from carrying him away, it didn’t get wet. Achilles was great in battle, yet one day an arrow cast into his heel cut his life short, thus giving us the term “Achilles Heel” to denote a fatal flaw. It also gives yarrow the common name Soldier’s Wound Wort, as using the herb as a wash or tincture will keep a wound from festering and allow for speedy healing.
Botany: Mountain Plants of the Pacific Northwest by Taylor and Douglas define the botany of yarrow as follows:
Yarrow is an aromatic perennial herb, usually with well-developed rhizomes. The stems are up to three feet tall.
Leaves- Basal leaves one to eight inches long, stalked, pinnately dissected, the division’s again dissected, making the leaves fernlike. Stem leaves alternate, similarly dissected but not stalked and reduced progressively higher on the stem.
Flowers- heads numerous, borne in hemispheric or flat-topped clusters; ray flowers usually five, sometimes three or four and white to pink; disk flowers ten to thirty cream colored; involucral bracts light to dark margined, sometimes hairy.
Fruits- Glabrous, flattened achenes, less that 1/8 inch long; pappus absent.
Harvesting Methods: Depending on the part of the plant harvested, the window of opportunity can be long or short.
Yarrow flowers must be harvested before they are pollinated. As each “flower” consists of both disk and ray flowers, we look for disk flowers that are fully developed, yet still in bud stage, and ray flowers that are a bright lively cream with the tips more upright than pointing down. Open disk flowers that are reaching out for the pollinators and ray flowers that are tan and droopy are indicators of pollination.
Harvest the unpollinated flowers with careful thought to allowing for leaving many flowers to create seeds as a plant’s purpose is to make more of itself. At the Cedar Mountain Herb School, we don’t subscribe to “take ten percent of the plant, take one in five plants, take a third, take only from the babies and not from the mother,” or other rules of harvesting. Spend ample time with the plant stand to assess health and volume, and the plants growing in community that may be impacted by harvesting. If necessary, find another stand or an alternative plant that can work as well in a formula if harvesting from a particular stand is questionable. It’s not about taking all we can in order to make remedies to fill orders. It’s about being trustworthy stewards of the earth and the plants that live upon it.
While yarrow leaves are very strong any time they are present and upright, it’s worth noting that the terpenes in the hairlike unicellular glands on the leaves are most prevalent before flowering. Granted, there are many other constituents worth utilizing while the plant is flowering and afterwards.
The stems may be harvested any time of year during its growth cycle to bring their own collection of medicine to a remedy.
A word about using tools when harvesting: Consider harvesting with bare hands. This gives the plant your energy and an awareness of what is happening that far exceeds cutting with scissors or clippers. Using tools can be a shock to a plant as they are unable to feel the intention of the harvester. Over many decades of harvesting, I’ve found that leaves will give themselves easily when pinched at their attachment points on a branch. Dig up rhizomes and roots with the hands as much as possible. If a branch or stalk doesn’t easily break off at an attachment point, use clippers to prevent tearing the protective bark of the main branch or pulling up a plant from its roots.
The Medicine of Yarrow: Wide and varied, the medicine of yarrow is one of contradictions. It’s amazing that yarrow can staunch bleeding in a wound, yet helps stalled menses begin again. Yarrow heats to cause sweating, moves fluids throughout the body, acts as a diuretic, and combats viral attacks. It stimulates the immune system and points the way to where healing is needed.
Not only does yarrow help to stop the bleeding of wounds, but also hemorrhoids and bleeding ulcers. Being antimicrobial, it does its part to protect a wound from infection, dull the pain, and speed healing. In civil war times, doctors used yarrow to keep a wound from becoming gangrenous.
It has a very good anti inflammatory effect, both internally and externally, which could be helpful during a cold/flu, gastrointestinal upsets, diarrhea, and joint issues such as rheumatoid arthritis and allergic reactions. Yarrow is used as an anti parasitic, killing and expelling worms, protozoa and helminths.
A bitter herb, yarrow stimulates the entire digestive tract, healing membranes, stimulating digestive enzymes and acids, and helping to easily remove waste.
Yarrow is numbing to teeth and gums, which can be helpful when scheduling a dental appointment.
Yarrow is useful in skin care products as the salicylates help to slough off dead skin cells.
In formulas, yarrow is a vehicle plant that carries other herbs to the area of need. Yarrow both stimulates and relaxes.
Yarrow acts as a companion plant, rebuffing predators who may devastate a community of plants.
Michael Moore describes yarrow’s medicine as its benefits with acute fevers at the onset of flus and colds. Its anti-inflammatory effects helps with sore muscles and joint inflammation, utilizing it fresh as a poultice or dried decoction in a bath.
Of note, yarrow raises heat in a body, making one sweat. The sweat is cooled by the air, which is how it works to bring down a fever. Moore suggests combining yarrow with chamomile and fennel in a tea to help lower fevers and support much needed rest.
Energetically, yarrow protects those who over give off their energy hoping to get love and validation in return, and allows a person to set boundaries with kindness.
Constituents and Their Actions: Yarrow contains 108 active constituents. The following is but a few of them.
Achilleine in the whole plant is one of the constituents that stops bleeding. That action is called hemostatic and styptic. It is a pyrrolizidine alkaloid that can be harmful to the liver in large doses. Water soluble.
alpha-Pinene in the leaves serve as a tranquilizer, which can help stop pain when applied to the affected area. Monoterpene
alpha-Terpenine in the leaves is antibacterial, anti-acne, and kills and/or repels termites, mosquitos, and other bugs. It is a motor depressant and sedative. That’s cool….the bugs eat the leaves and lay there, unable to move. Being transdermal, it can be applied to the skin and will enter the bloodstream. What it can do to a bug, it can do to a human.
Anacyclin in the root is an effective insecticide/pesticide. It’s a fatty amide. Amines combine with carboxylic acids to form amides. Through this action, amino acids link together to form proteins. Soluble in alcohol.
alpha-Thujone in the leaves is an abortifacient. Care must be taken when using yarrow while pregnant. It is contraindicated for use.
Antioxidants including quercitin, quercitrin, rutin, tannic acid, protocatechuic acid do their part to prevent cancer, mitigate allergies and inflammation, stimulate the immune system, kill viruses and bacteria, normalize blood pressure, deal with herpes and varicose veins…really their actions are too long to list. Water soluble.
Apigenin in the plant. An antioxidant, apigenin causes certain cancer cells to self destruct. This is called apoptosis.
Asparagine in the whole plant is a diuretic. This is also in nettles and asparagus.
Azulene in the leaves are cooling/antipyretic, antihistaminic, and anti-inflammatory.
Borneol in the leaves repel insects, is anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic. An analgesic, borneol masks pain and relaxes the muscles.
Caffeic acid in the plant is anti cancer, analgesic, anti inflammatory, stimulates immune system.
Camphor in the leaves, is antiseptic, carminative, anesthetic, and stops muscle spasms. It is transdermal. Lavender contains this terpene as well.
Camazulene in the plant serves as a coolant, analgesic, and antiseptic. It’s also a pesticide and vulnerary. A vulnerary is used in the healing of wounds.
Chlorogenic acid in the plant is an antioxidant that has a myriad actions including anti-tumor, antiseptic, cancer preventive, protects the heart, assists in the discharge of bile, analgesic, stimulates the immune system, diuretic, vulnerary…….the list goes on.
Dulcitol in the plant is a sugar alcohol also known as galactitol. It is slightly sweet and anti-tumor.
Eugenol in the plant has many actions, a few of which are anti-pyretic, antiherpetic (counters herpes), antiviral, CNS depressant, insecticide, motor depressant, larvicide, neurotoxic. Juvabional - eugenol affects many aspects of insect physiology. Sesquiterpenoid.
Hydroquinone in the plant is directly cytotoxic to some cancer cells, is an antiseptic, antibacterial, antioxidant, pesticide, astringent.
Isovaleric acid in the plant is a sedative tranquilizer. Also in our wild Sitka Valerian, isovaleric acid is similar in structure to GABA and GHB.
GABA - gamma-aminobutyric acid. Neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Its function is to reduce neuron excitability, reduce transmission of nerve impulses in the CNS, and regulation of muscle tone.
GHB - gamma hydroxybutyrate. CNS depressant. A catabolite of GABA (catabolism is breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones). The jury is still out on whether GHB is a neurotransmitter. Nevertheless, prescription GHB has been used as a "date rape" drug as it can cause increased sex drive, euphoria, relaxation; however, it can also cause amnesia, loss of consciousness, coma.
Isovaleric acids bind to GABA receptors, release GABA and inhibit degradation. This alkaloid is metabolized in the liver. The healthier the liver, the more productively it can metabolize alkaloids.
Luteolin in the plant is diuretic, vasodilator, and anti tumor.
Phenols in the plant. Phenols are water soluble antioxidants that have a wide range of actions. In plants, polyphenols role is to give fruits and veggies their color, contribute to bitter taste, astringency, aroma, and the stability of the plants.
In us, polyphenols help to slow down or prevent the progression of diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Additionally, they fight free radicals, reduce the appearance of aging, reduce inflammation, protect the cardiovascular system, support normal blood sugar levels and blood pressure, promote brain health, protect the skin against UV rays.
Polyphenols help to positively influence the health of the gut ecology. Beneficial bacteria thrive in the gut with the addition of polyphenols, while bad bacteria are negatively impacted. What we eat directly influences the health of the structure of our gut and the demographics (the population and particular bacterial groups within it) of the bacteria in our intestines.
Mannitol in the plant promotes urination (diuretic), and acts as a laxative, kills and expels helminths, reduces inflammation in the kidneys. Water soluble antioxidant.
Menthol in the plant is an expectorant, analgesic, gastro-sedative. Care must be taken when utilizing menthol in moderate amounts with those who have GERD and/or heartburn as it relaxes the sphincters that keep stomach acid from moving up the esophagus.
Saponins in the leaves modulate the immune system, and are anti-tumor in the lung and ovaries. In general, saponins are a glycoside with foaming effect. Saponins possess foaming aptitude and this is the outcome of the amalgamation of a hydrophilic (water soluble) sugar segment of the glycoside and a hydrophobic (fat soluble) sapogenin. Saponin glycosides have a prominent therapeutic benefit as they possess expectorant properties. SOAP! Water soluble.
Salicylic acid in the plant bring down fevers and inflammation, block pain, kill fungi, and slough off dead skin cells.
Terpineol in the plant is antiseptic, anticancer, anti-asthmatic, antibacterial, insecticide, expectorant.
Thujone in the plant is an abortifacient and emmenagogue. It can be toxic to the liver in high doses. Its actions also include pesticide, neurotoxic, and hallucinogenic. Hmmmmmm…
Preparations and Remedies: Depending on the constituents, some being water soluble and some alcohol soluble, one can make 100 proof tinctures, electuaries (herbal honeys), dry for teas and decoctions, and herbal vinegar.
Contraindications: Yarrow is not recommended for use during pregnancy due to its emmenagogue and abortifacient effects. Those who are allergic or hypersensitive to plants in the aster family should avoid yarrow.
Yarrow Facts: Yarrow’s flowers are dense heads (inflorescences) called capitula, which are surrounded underneath by involucral bracts.
Family Ties: Yarrow is in the Asteraceae family, which also contains sunflowers, chicory, calendula, artichokes, lettuce, salsify, dandelions, mugwort, tansy, chamomile, desert sagebrush, thistles, elecampane, tarragon, black eyed Susan, echinacea, tumbleweeds, and daisies to name only a few.
The aster family is one of the most prolific families in the plant world. In fact, the aster family envelopes over 1,900 genera with more than 32,000 species. I’d love to go to that family reunion!
Ray and Disk Flowers: In the aster family, plants have either disk or ray flowers, or a combination of the two. While the inflorescence looks like one flower, it’s actually made up of many flowers as each ray and disk is an entire flower.
I Ching and Yarrow: Traditionally, yarrow stalks were used to throw the I Ching before they were replaced with coins. I Ching means Book of Changes.
As the yarrow stalks were thrown, interpreters would look at the patterns the stalks would create to help give direction in one’s life.
Yarrow as First Aid: Harvest yarrow herb when flowers are present, but not pollinated. Fully dry in a dehydrator and powder in a coffee mill. Fill small and medium sized closable teabags with the powder, close and store in a plastic container or ziplocks. Keep in the first aid kits in the kitchen, bathroom, and vehicle. When needed to staunch bleeding of a wound, thoroughly wet to release the achilleine and other styptic constituents, and press on the wound for several minutes. This also serves to kill any germs that may be present.
As powdered herbs do not keep well, make sure to renew this herbal remedy once a year.
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Suzanne Tabert is a bio-regional herbalist, wildcrafter, founder and director of herbal education at the Cedar Mountain Herb School, teaching from a lifetime of personal and academic studies of plants and their habitats. She is a member of the American Herbalists Guild, the American Herb Association, Partner in Education at United Plant Savers, and is practicum supervisor and adjunct faculty at Bastyr University. She has been teaching herbal medicine for 30 years, with plans to continue throughout her lifetime.