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- Yarrow
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Yarrow grows to 3 feet tall and has no branches except near the top. It is a cold-tolerant plant with lovely fern-like foliage that can survive and re-emerge even after freezes.
The leaves are alternate, 3-5 inches long, with many leaflets on each side of the midrib (1- pinnately lobed); and these are further divided into smaller leaflets, giving them a delicate, fernlike, lacy appearance. Flower heads are arranged in large, compact clusters at the top of the stem, each cluster consisting of 1 or more flower heads. The flower head has 20-25 yellowish-white (rarely pink) ray flowers and similarly colored disk flowers.
The above ground parts are used to make medicine. Yarrow can be used for fever, common cold, hay fever, absence of menstruation, dysentery, diarrhea, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal (GI) tract discomfort, and to induce sweating. Some people chew the fresh leaves to relieve toothache.