Leaf Lore: Yarrow

The 1986 edition of the Old Farmer’s Almanac featured the article “How to Find the Perfect Mate”. They listed several superstitious acts to perform if you want your true love to appear, beginning the list with “Pluck a stalk of yarrow and stick it up your nose. If a drop of blood appears, your love is true.” Technically, you could shove anything up your nose and cause bleeding, so I’m not sure about the efficacy of this ritual. However, yarrow has been used for centuries for its healing properties, specifically, the ability to staunch bleeding.

The Latin name for Yarrow, Achillea, has its roots in the Greek hero, Achilles. In Greek mythology, Achilles was the mortal son of the nymph, Thetis. His mother feared losing her son to death, so she dipped him into the river Styx, to drench him in immortality, not knowing that where she held him behind the heels would prove to be his one vulnerability (where we get the anatomical term Achilles Heel). Achilles grew to be a great soldier and hero of the Trojan War, as well as known for his medical skills on the battlefield. He placed the finely textured leaves of yarrow to clot the wounds of his soldiers. Modern medicine has proven that the leaves of Achillea millefolium do contain antibiotic compounds and help stop the flow of blood when placed on a wound. So, if you are pruning roses this summer and get a particularly nasty scratch, pluck a yarrow leaf as a bandage.