YARROW* (Achillea millefolium) Herb, cut and sifted (Organic) 1 oz or by the pound Often used for fever, hair care, hemorrhoids, hypertension, indigestion, insomnia, migraine, scars, stretch marks, varicose veins, wounds. Yarrow has been used since antiquity for headaches, fevers (drink hot yarrow tea), colds, and influenza. Helps curb diarrhea, dysentery, anemia, gas, diabetes, Bright's disease, palpitations and excessive menstruation. Treatment for gastrointestinal and gallbladder complaints, gonorrhea, toothache (chew the leaves), lack of appetite, and catarrhs of the digestive system. Also hyperacidity, nervousness, nosebleed, bleeding from the lungs, anorexia, enteritis, stomach ulcers, hemoptysis, gastritis, high blood pressure, styptic, and sleep disturbances. Produces a feeling of peace and relaxation for women in the menopause, and is a tonic.

~ Excerpt pp.162-168 - A City Herbal by Maida Silverman

Folknames: Yarroway, Milfoil, Thousandweed, Thousandleaf, Soldier's Woundwort, Knight's Milfoil, Carpenter's Weed, Bloodwort, Staunchweed, Sanguinary, Nosebleed, Devil's Nettle, Devil's Plaything. Historical Lore, Legends, and Uses: Legend has it that Achilles was taught the medicinal virtues of Yarrow by the centaur Charon, who was skilled in herb lore. Achilles used the herb to heal his solders' bleeding wounds, and the herb was named in his honor, though some might feel it should have been named after Charon. In any event, Yarrow has an ancient and honorable reputation as a wound herb, particularly efficacious for stopping the flow of blood. This belief was alluded to in the folknames, most of which refer to this property. The specific name, millefolium, refers to the minutely divided leaves and is reflected in names such as Milfoil and Thousandleaf, a literal translation of the Latin world millefolium.

Yarrow was said to be "excellent to stop inward bleeding." Yarrow was dried, powdered, and mixed with Plantain or comfrey water (both were famous wound herbs) or used by itself fresh, as a poultice for wounds that would not stop bleeding. These preparations were said to immediately stop the flow of blood. Dried and powdered Yarrow leaves, if dropped into the nostrils, stopped nosebleed. A decoction of Yarrow in white wine was drunk as a remedy for too copious menstruation. For the same purpose, large amounts of the fresh plants were boiled in water, and the patient sat over the beneficial steam to absorb it.

Oddly enough, this stauncher of blood could actually cause nosebleed if a fresh leaf was inserted in the nostril and twisted. This was sometimes purposely done, it being believed at one time that nosebleeds cured headaches.

Yarrow was a favorite wound herb of the Anglo-Saxons. They also employed it to heal burns and the bites of poisonous snakes and insects. The fresh leaves were chewed to relieve toothache.

Dr. William Coles, a seventeenth-century physician, prescribed the flowers and juice of the plant taken in goat's milk or the distilled water of the whole plant as being "good for loose bowels, even more so if a little powdered coral, amber or ivory is added." (This last recommendation was medically worthless but highly popular in Cole's time, particularly among the rich-the only ones who could afford it. Everyone else had to be content with the unadorned herbs. Actually, they were probably better off. Powdered gems certainly did no good, and in some instances may have done some harm.)

Coles mentions that ointments containing Yarrow were used to heal ulcers, wounds, and running sores "by signature-the many incisions upon the leaves resembling those wounds, or if your fancy will have it, more like unto hair: it stops the shedding if the head is bathed with a decoction thereof." He describes another more unusual use for Yarrow: the juice was injected by syringe to cure a distressing ailment known as the "the excoriation of the yard {penis} caused by pollution or extreme flowing of seed, and any inflammation or swelling caused thereby, as has been proved by some single or unmarried persons, who have been very much oppressed on this account."

In nineteenth-century Britain, one physician observed that Yarrow "though generally neglected" was a fine medicine for excessive menstrual bleeding, bloody fluxes generally, and bleeding piles. It was an excellent diuretic and healed ulcers of the kidneys and urethra. The best part was the young shoots. The doctor remarked that foreign physicians still esteemed Yarrow for treating hemorrhage.

In America, Yarrow was well known as a medicinal plant to native American peoples. The Delaware and related Algonquin tribes prepared a tea from Yarrow which they used fore treating liver and kidney disorders. The Lenape pounded Yarrow roots with a stone and boiled them with water to make a remedy for excessive menstrual flow. Yarrow was extensively employed by a number of other tribes. The Ute name for it meant "wound medicine," and it was used by them as such, and the Piute drank Yarrow tea to cure a variety of stomach disorders.

The Pennsylvania Dutch knew Yarrow as Schoof Ribba. They prepared a "sweating tonic" from the whole plant to reduce fever, and a tea made with the leaves was supposed to have a beneficial effect on the liver and gall bladder. Horses were fed Yarrow to cure them of intestinal worms.

The nineteenth-century physician-botanist Dr. C. S. Rafinewque recommended an infusion or extract of the whole herb for menstrual problems and dysentery. Rafinesque believed that American Yarrow was stronger in its action than the European variety, and he mentioned that the American plants were exported for medicinal use abroad.

Yarrow tea was a popular remedy for influenza. It was thought to induce copious sweating, thus reducing the dangerously high fever of this disease. Yarrow tea was considered a good general remedy for severe chest colds as well. The dose was one ounce of the dried herb to one pint of boiling water. It was strained and drunk warm and sweetened with honey or sugar. Sometimes a dash of cayenne pepper was added.

Yarrow is still official in Central Europe as a tonic and stimulant.

The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia (1971 edition) lists Yarrow as an "antipyretic, diaphoretic…astringent and diuretic." Modern herbal doctors employ it to treat fevers, amenorrhea, and diarrhea.

Perhaps because of its pungent (and to many unpleasant) odor, Yarrow was said to be one of the devil's herbs and was probably called Devil's Plaything and Devil's Nettle for this reason. In any event, it has been long associated with magic and witchcraft. As is so often the case, however, the plant could actually be employed to give protection against the very same spells that it was an ingredient of.

Yarrow was strewn across the threshold of a house to keep out evil influences and was worn to guard against evil spells. Country people tied sprigs of it to a baby's cradle to protect the infant from witches who might try to steal away its soul, which they believed to be a real possibility in cases where there had been a delay in baptizing the infant.

To ease childbirth, Yarrow that had been gathered on St. John's or Midsummer Eve (June 21, the summer solstice, a day of great and powerful magical significance since very ancient antiquity) was given to a woman in labor. She held it pressed to her right side, but it had to be taken away as soon as the child was born.