Updated 4 January 2024
Common names
- Yarrow, Bloodweed, Carpenter's Weed, Milfoil, Sanguinary
Common origins
- France, Europe, Asia, North America
Botanical classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Asterales
- Family: Asteraceae
- Genus: Achillea
Components
- Sesquiterpene lactones: guaianolides, germacranolides, eudesmanolides, seco-pseudoguaianolides (achillin, achillicin, rupicolines), etc.
- Flavonoids luteolin, apigenin, heterosides
- Phenolic acids
- Tannins
- Alkaloids: betaine and derivatives (achillein, stachydrin)
- Coumarins
- Azulene essential oil (blue in colour)
- Ash rich in silica and potassium
Parts used
- Flowering tops, leaves
Organoleptic properties
- Odour: aromatic, powerful, spicy
- Taste: bitter, acrid, astringent, salty
Properties
Internal use
- Bitter Tonic
- Carminative
- Choleretic, antihepatotoxic
- Muscle detoxifier
- Antispasmodic for smooth muscles, especially in the uterus and digestive tract
- Anti-inflammatory for mucous membranes
- Emmenagogue
- Progesterone-like
- Luteotropic: supports liver function by helping to reduce excess oestrogen in the circulation
- Venous tonic
- Haemostatic
- Diuretic
- Diaphoretic
- Antitumour
External use
- Healing, vulnerary
- Anti-inflammatory
- Soothing, antipruritic
- Astringent
- Anti-infectious
- Haemostatic
Indications
Internal use
Digestive disorders:
- Inflammation of the stomach and intestinal mucosa
- Digestive cramps
- Diarrhoea
- Constipation
- Flatulence
- Dyspepsia
- Liver congestion
Pelvic pain and congestion associated with menstruation:
- Amenorrhoea
- Dysmenorrhoea
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Metrorrhagia
- Leucorrhoea
- Uterine fibroids
- Endometriosis
Painful contractures:
Circulatory diseases:
Other indications:
- Neurovegetative dystonia
- Post-trauma (especially after surgery to facilitate tissue repair and prevent bleeding)
- Fever (especially if sweating is difficult)
External use
- Inflamed lesions
- Wounds that are difficult to heal
- Haemorrhoids (in a sitz bath)
- Burns
- Acne
- Bruises
- White hair (as shampoo)
- Insect bites (for pain)
Precautions / Contraindications
- None known at recommended doses.
- During consumption over a long period or in very high concentration: constipation, digestive disorders, liver disorders.
- Not recommended for people who are allergic to plants in the Asteraceae family.
- Not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women or children under 5 years of age.
- May cause allergic reaction on contact with fresh leaves.
Interactions
- Anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, lithium, iron.
How to use / Current dose
Internal use
- As an infusion: 1 teaspoon per cup, brew for 10 minutes, drink 3 cups a day.
- As tincture or liquid extract: 30 drops in a little water, 3 times a day.
- In micronised powder form
External use
- As a sitz bath or compress (infusion or decoction).
- Crushed leaves: in a ball in the nostril for nosebleeds, as a compress on a wound.
- As an oily maceration: for varicose veins.
- Shampoo
Additional information
Habitat and botanical description
This perennial plant has a hairy, sparsely branched stem and is 60 to 80 cm tall on average. Its leaves are elongated, narrow and stalked at the base, deeply lobed, giving it a feathery appearance, hence the name 'millefeuille', and aromatic. The white, pink or purple flowers are grouped in numerous small corymbs. The hearts of the flowers may be yellow or pink. It blooms between June and October. The fruit is an oval, whitish achene containing a small seed. Its taproot seeks water deep down, making it extremely hardy.
It is commonly found in meadows, mountain pastures, roadsides and waste ground, on dry, sandy or rocky soils.
Harvest time
The flowering tops are harvested at the start of flowering, often around Midsummer's Day (24 June).
Mythology / History / Anecdotes and traditional virtues
Traces of its use date back to the Neolithic period. The name "yarrow" comes from the name of the Greek hero Achilles, to whom the centaur Chiron or Venus, depending on the source, is said to have taught its virtues to treat his famous heel wound and those of the soldiers during the Trojan War. As for the term "yarrow", it refers to the appearance of its leaves, which are finely divided, giving the illusion of a multitude of leaves. Pliny the Elder recommended drinking yarrow juice with honey to drain excess bile. In the Middle Ages it was used to relieve melancholy (by draining the "black bile").
Hildegarde de Bingen described it as a plant for wounds, whether internal or external, because it "removes the rot from the wound, heals it and heals the wound". Since the 19th century, it has been known and used for its antispasmodic properties.
During the First World War, yarrow was included in soldiers' first aid kits.