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Yarrow

Materia Medica

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

hepatobiliaryendocrine

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) — a versatile bitter and styptic used to stop bleeding, break fevers and support digestion and circulation.

Work in progress Updated October 2017

What Is Yarrow?

Yarrow is one of the most important herbs in Western herbal medicine. It has a wide range of actions, some of which are broad enough to cover a range of seemingly unrelated conditions. The intensely bitter flavour of yarrow makes it hard to mask, but is also a source of its medicinal qualities.

Yarrow is used externally as a styptic. In WWII soldiers carried small sacks of powdered yarrow to place into gunshot wounds to stop the bleeding. In modern times, yarrow makes for a great emergency herb on hikes through the Rocky mountains of North America or by carrying some in a first aid pack when on the trail.

Internally yarrow is used for its bitter component, and to break a fever through its diaphoretic actions.

What Is Yarrow Used For?

Yarrow is used topically to treat wounds and stop bleeding through hemostatic chemicals contained in the leaves. It’s used on skin rashes and eruptions.

Internally, yarrow is useful for breaking fevers, inducing sweating, treating kidney disorders, stomach cramps and indigestion, enteritis, hyperglycemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, poor appetite, and infection of influenza.

Traditional Uses

Western Herbal Medicine

Traditionally, yarrow was used as a styptic and vulnerary, and was especially useful in times of war by the soldiers. Some of its common names reflect this use very well such as “Soldiers wound wort”, and “Knights milfoil”. The famous herbalist Gerard suggests that yarrow was used by Achilles to stanch the bleeding of his soldiers 5,6Reference 5A Modern Herbal · 1931YarrowView study →Reference 6Agar et al. · 2015Comparative Studies on Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant, Wound Healing and Cytotoxic Activities of Selected Achillea LView study →. This may be why the herb’s botanical name is Achillea millefolium. He also suggested its use for headaches, to stop nosebleeds, and for toothaches 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.).

Culpeper suggested it is “drying and binding” and suggested a poultice of yarrow for treating piles, and an ointment of the leaves for wounds 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.).

In the 17th century its leaves were used in salads despite its highly bitter taste 5Reference 5A Modern Herbal · 1931YarrowView study →.

A wash was used to prevent baldness and treat bleeding piles by making a strong decoction of the whole plant 5Reference 5A Modern Herbal · 1931YarrowView study →.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Yarrow is considered to be cooling and drying. It stimulates the liver and regulates the flow of Qi. It’s generally used for inflammatory and digestive conditions and releasing stagnant Qi 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.).

Botany

Common yarrow is a rhizomatous, spreading, upright-to-mat-forming perennial in the daisy family (Asteraceae) — one of roughly 1,900+ genera in the family, placed within the Anthemideae tribe alongside other aromatic relatives such as mugwort, wormwood, tarragon and Roman chamomile 17Reference 17Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder —https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282View study →. It produces deeply-dissected, fern-like, aromatic foliage and tiny, long-lasting white flowers in dense, flattened, compound corymb-like clusters on stems typically 2–3 ft tall 17Reference 17Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder —https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282View study →. The genus name honors Achilles, who Greek mythology credits with using the plant to treat his soldiers’ wounds; the species epithet millefolium (“thousand-leaved”) refers to the finely dissected foliage 17Reference 17Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder —https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282View study →.

Sources

  1. Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — Achillea millefolium. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282

Distribution

Unusually for a widespread “weed,” common yarrow is genuinely native across Western Asia, Europe, and North America — not merely naturalized there 17Reference 17Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder —https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282View study →. The Eurasian form was also separately introduced to North America in colonial times and has since spread by rhizome and self-seeding into substantial colonies along roadsides, fields, waste areas and lawns; Missouri Botanical Garden describes it as “considered by many to be an aggressive weed,” though it is not on the USDA federal noxious weed list 17Reference 17Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder —https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282View study →. No formal conservation concern; it is common and widespread.

Sources

  1. Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — Achillea millefolium. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282

Growing Conditions

  • Life cycle: rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, hardy USDA zones 3–9 17Reference 17Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder —https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282View study →.
  • Light: full sun.
  • Water: dry to medium; drought-tolerant and wet-sensitive — good drainage matters more than fertility.
  • Habit: spreads aggressively by rhizomes and self-seeding; divide clumps every 2–3 years to keep it in bounds.
  • Full cultivation details live on the companion farm-wiki grow guide for Achillea millefolium (link to be added once that project’s public URL is confirmed).

Sources

  1. Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — Achillea millefolium. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282

Other Common Names

Yarrow, Nosebleed, Milfoil, Old Man’s Pepper, Soldier’s Woundwort, Knights Milfoil, Herbe Militaris, Thousand Weed, Bloodwort, Staunchweed, Devil’s Nettle, Devil’s Plaything, Yarroway, Plumajillo.

Harvesting, Collection & Preparation

Yarrow is easy to cultivate in temperate climates, and has a tendency to become a garden weed.

Yarrow can be collected, dried, and powdered to keep on hand for any cuts or wounds in which first aid treatment requires the stoppage of blood.

Pharmacology & Medical Research

Diabetes

The beta-cells of the pancreas are the source of insulin for the human body, damage to these cells, will result in diabetes, which in turn has a wide range of negative health implications. Protecting these cells, or reducing the damage occurring here through the use of herbs such as Achillea millefolium could be an important control method and treatment option for this widespread and ultimately fatal disease.

Yarrow extract was shown to protect the pancreatic beta-cells from damage. This action was found to be at least partly due to its ability to decrease the mRNA gene expression of IL-1-beta and iNOS, which itself exerts most of its actions through the inflammatory pathway Nf-kB 1Reference 1Zolghadri Y et al. · 2014AnimalAchillea Millefolium L. IL-1-beta has been found to play a significant role in the destruction of these important beta-cells in the body, and as such blocking its interaction with its corresponding receptors has become a therapeutic strategy at a preclinical level so far 2Reference 2Grishman EK et al. · 2012Toll-like receptors, the NLRP3 inflammasome, and interleukin-1beta in the development and progression of type 1 diabetes.

Antioxidant

Oxidative damage is a normal part of metabolic processes, however, the inability to manage these free radicals, overproduction of free radicals, exposure to external oxidant substances, or regulation mechanism failure can lead to damage to cellular DNA, lipids, and proteins within our body. This can result in a wide range of conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and atherosclerosis 6Reference 6Agar et al. · 2015Comparative Studies on Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant, Wound Healing and Cytotoxic Activities of Selected Achillea LView study →.

Achillea millefolium contains a variety of directly antioxidant constituents such as flavonoids, and the sesquiterpene lactone achillolide A. These compounds scavenge free radicals throughout the body, which reduces the cellular damage and degradation that naturally occurs with free radical species. Achillolide A was studied more closely to investigate its antioxidant actions more specifically in the astrocytes of the nervous system. It was found that achillolide A was able to act by inhibiting microglial activation, modulate MAPK activity, and reduce reactive oxygen species levels in the microglial cells 3Reference 3Elmann et al. · 2016Achillolide A Protects Astrocytes against Oxidative Stress by Reducing Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species and Interfering with Cell SignalingView study →. This shows a significant ability for achillolide A to protect the astrocytes of the nervous system, mainly through antioxidant and free radical preventative actions.

Achillea millefolium also possesses antioxidant effects through indirect means, such as through an inhibition of inflammatory triggering interleukins and iNOS 1Reference 1Zolghadri Y et al. · 2014AnimalAchillea Millefolium L.

Antispasmodic

Achillea millefolium hydroalcoholic extract was shown to inhibit the contraction of smooth muscle of the ileum in rats. This action was noted to be through a blockade of voltage dependent calcium ion channels 4Reference 4Moradi et al. · 2013AnimalAntispasmodic effects of yarrow (Achillea millefolium l.) extract in the isolated ileum of ratView study →.

Phytochemistry

Yarrow’s most distinctive constituent is the deep-blue chamazulene, which is not present in the fresh plant but forms during steam distillation from the proazulene sesquiterpene lactone matricin (achillicin) — its presence separates the azulene-rich (usually polyploid) chemotypes from azulene-free ones. The rest of the essential oil is mostly oxygenated monoterpenes, led by camphor, sabinene, 1,8-cineole and α-pinene, alongside bitter sesquiterpene lactones such as achillolide A, and antioxidant flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin, quercetin) 5,6,14,16Reference 5A Modern Herbal · 1931YarrowView study →Reference 6Agar et al. · 2015Comparative Studies on Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant, Wound Healing and Cytotoxic Activities of Selected Achillea LView study →Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)Reference 16Bone · 2003A clinical guide to blending liquid herbs: Herbal formulations for the individual patient.

Constituent Summary

Volatile-oil figures are share of the distilled oil from one representative analysis; oil yield and especially chamazulene content vary enormously between samples (chamazulene reported anywhere from trace to ~44% of oil). Compounds marked † are azulene/proazulene chemotype markers 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.).

Volatile oil (terpenoids)
Grouped by class · 13 compounds
Monoterpene12 compounds12 with data
MonoterpeneCamphor17.79% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneSabinene12.35% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
Monoterpene1,8-Cineole9.59% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
Monoterpeneα-Pinene9.41% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneIsoartemisia ketone8.6% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
Monoterpeneβ-Pinene7.13% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneCamphene6.02% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
Monoterpeneγ-Terpinene3.71% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneBorneol2.55% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneBornyl acetate2.1% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneLimonene1.71% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
MonoterpeneTricyclene0.27% 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
Sesquiterpene1 compound1 with data
SesquiterpeneChamazulene †Trace (to ~44% in azulene chemotypes) 14Reference 14Battaglia · 2003The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.)
Sesquiterpene lactones
Grouped by class · 2 compounds
Sesquiterpene lactone2 compoundsno data
Sesquiterpene lactoneAchillolide ANo data
Sesquiterpene lactoneAchillicin †No data
Flavonoids & phenolics
Grouped by class · 6 compounds
Flavonoid4 compoundsno data
FlavonoidApigeninNo data
FlavonoidLuteolinNo data
FlavonoidQuercetinNo data
FlavonoidRutinNo data
Phenolic acid2 compoundsno data
Phenolic acidChlorogenic acidNo data
Phenolic acidRosmarinic acidNo data

Across the genus Achillea, the broader phenolic profile reported includes quinic acid, malic acid, trans-aconitic acid, gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, protocatechuic acid, tannic acid, trans-caffeic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid, rosmarinic acid, rutin, hesperidin, hyperoside, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, salicylic acid, myricetin, fisetin, coumarin, quercetin, naringenin, hesperetin, luteolin, kaempferol, apigenin, rhamnetin and chrysin 6Reference 6Agar et al. · 2015Comparative Studies on Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant, Wound Healing and Cytotoxic Activities of Selected Achillea LView study →.

Clinical Applications

Yarrow’s intensely bitter principles make it useful for any applications of a standard bitter, including indigestion, hepatobiliary stimulation, stimulating appetite, and treating a range of skin conditions.

Yarrow is also useful as a diaphoretic in the treatment of viral or bacterial infection to break a high fever. It’s a popular herb for some viral infections such as influenza by direct antiviral effect. It’s also a popular herb for muscle tightness and spasms for its antispasmodic activity.

References

  1. Zolghadri Y, Fazeli M, Marzieh Kooshki M, Shomali T, Karimaghayee N, Dehghani M. (2014). Achillea Millefolium L. Hydro- Alcoholic Extract Protects Pancreatic Cells by Down Regulating IL- 1β and iNOS Gene Expression in Diabetic Rats. Int J Mol Cell Med. Vol 3(4) 262
  2. Grishman EK, White PC, Savani RC. (2012). Toll-like receptors, the NLRP3 inflammasome, and interleukin-1beta in the development and progression of type 1 diabetes. Pediatr Res. 71:626-32.
  3. Elmann, A., Telerman, A., Erlank, H., Ofir, R., Kashman, Y., & Beit-Yannai, E. (2016). Achillolide A Protects Astrocytes against Oxidative Stress by Reducing Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species and Interfering with Cell Signaling. Molecules, 21(3), 301. doi:10.3390/molecules21030301
  4. Moradi, M., Rafieian-Koupaei, M., Imani-Rastabi, R., Nasiri, J., Shahrani, M., Rabiei, Z., & Alibabaei, Z. (2013). Antispasmodic effects of yarrow (Achillea millefolium l.) extract in the isolated ileum of rat. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 10(6), 499. doi:10.4314/ajtcam.v10i6.19
  5. A Modern Herbal. (1931). Yarrow. Retrieved from http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/y/yarrow02.html
  6. Agar, O., Dikmen, M., Ozturk, N., Yilmaz, M., Temel, H., & Turkmenoglu, F. (2015). Comparative Studies on Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant, Wound Healing and Cytotoxic Activities of Selected Achillea L. Species Growing in Turkey. Molecules,20(10), 17976-18000. doi:10.3390/molecules201017976
  7. Karabay-Yavasoglu, N.U.; Karamenderes, C.; Baykan, S.; Apaydin, S. (2007). Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities and acute toxicity of Achillea nobilis subsp. neilreichii extract in mice and rats. Pharm. Biol. 2007, 45, 162–168.
  8. Al-Hindawi, M.K.; Al-Deen, I.H.S.; Nabi, M.H.A.; Ismail, M.A. (1989). Anti-inflammatory activity of some Iraqi plants using intact rats. J. Ethnopharmacol. 26, 163–168.
  9. Ghasemi, P.A.; Koohpayeh, A.; Karimi, I. (2009). Effect of natural remedies on dead space wound healing in wistar rats. Pharmacogn. Mag. 5, 433–436.
  10. Akkol, K.E.; Koca, U.; Pesin, İ.; Yilmazer, D. (2011). Evaluation of the wound healing potential of Achillea biebersteinii Afan. (Asteraceae) by in vivo excision and incision models. J. Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med. doi:10.1093/ecam/nep039.
  11. Temamogullari, F.; Hayat, A.; Baba, F. (2009). Effects of Yarrow Extract on Wound Healing in Rabbits. J. Anim. Vet. Adv. 8, 1204–1206.
  12. Yaeesh, S.; Jamal, Q.; Khan, A.U.; Gilani, A.H. (2006). Studies on hepatoprotective, antispasmodic and calcium antagonist activities of the aqueous-methanol extract of Achillea millefolium. Phytother. Res. 20, 546–551.
  13. Karamenderes, C.; Apaydın, S. (2003). Antispasmodic effect of Achillea nobilis L. subsp. sipylea (O. Schwarz) Bässler on the rat isolated duodenum. J. Ethnopharmacol. 84, 175–179.
  14. Battaglia, S. (2003). The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy (2nd ed.). Brisbane, Australia: The International Centre of Holistic Aromatherapy. (Pg 276-277).
  15. Lawless J. (1992). The encyclopedia of essential oils. Element books limited, Great Britain.
  16. Bone, K. (2003). A clinical guide to blending liquid herbs: Herbal formulations for the individual patient. Edinburgh [u.a.: Churchill Livingstone. (Pg. 471-473).
  17. Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — Achillea millefolium — [botanical/distribution reference]. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b282