In my last post I asked if anyone could identify the plants in the picture taken at the flower corner of Third and Dayton. I'm not too good at that myself, but I thought that tallish plant nearest the camera with the yellow flower clusters might be yarrow. I checked online to be sure.
I was right, and I learned some interesting facts about Achillea millefolium, which is its proper name, along the way. As you might suspect, "Achillea" comes from Achilles, the Greek warrior with the vulnerable heel. Legend has it that he used the plant to dress the wounds of his injured warriors. "Millefolium" means "thousand-leafed" in Latin, which makes sense when you take a look at one.
I gained some other tidbits of knowledge about yarrow as well. It is a good companion plant, meaning it attracts beneficial insects and repels the bad ones. A tincture extracted from the flower is an anti-inflammatory, and, as Achilles knew, the leaf encourages clotting.
Of course, Native Americans had many healing uses for the plant, for everything from restless sleep to toothache. The Zuni even chewed the leaves and applied the juice before fire-walking.
The Chinese cast yarrow stalks in divination, and in days gone by, an English lass might put the yarrow in a little pouch, dream on it, and become enlightened as to who was her true love. Before falling asleep she would recite this poem:
Thou pretty herb of Venus tree
Thy true name be Yarrow
Now who my bosom friend must be
Pray tell thou me tomorrow.
And, of course, the leaves are edible--reportedly something like spinach, when cooked in a stew.
For the sake of providing first-hand information, I munched on the tip of a leaf a few minutes ago, though, and it was awfully bitter. I reckon it must be eaten when the leaves--the thousand-lobed leaves--are tender in the spring.
Do any of you readers have first-hand knowledge of the many uses of this excellent plant?