Achillea borealis

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves - tea, Flowers - tea

The flowers are used in herbal teas and lemonade, and can also be fried in butter and sprinkled with sugar or orange juice. The leaves are used for tea.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant.

Alaska, North America, USA,

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. It grows 5 m tall. There are prickles along the stem. The leaves are twice divided and there are 8-18 pairs of pinnae. There are up to 50 pairs of pinnules on each pinnae. The flowers are yellow. They are in large clusters at the ends of branches. The pods are flattened.

Medicinal Uses

A. millefolium was used in traditional medicine, in part due to its astringent properties and the mild laxative effect of its leaves. It was used in ancient times to heal wounds and stop bleeding, and in the 16th century, the crushed leaves were used to stop nosebleeds. North American varieties were traditionally used by many Native American nations. The Navajo considered it a "life medicine" and chewed the plant for toothaches and used its infusions for earaches. The Miwok in California used the plant as an analgesic and head cold remedy. Native American nations used the plant for healing cuts and abrasions, relief from earaches and throat infections, as well as for an eyewash. Yarrow was used by Plains indigenous peoples to reduce pain or fever and aid sleep. Some Ojibwe people used a decoction of yarrow leaves on hot stones and inhaled it to treat headaches, or applied decoctions of the root onto skin for its stimulating effect.

Notes

There are about 85-100 Achillea species. They are temperate in Europe and Asia.

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