How to Find and Use Yarrow

Jul 16
2 min read

🌼 Spotlight Herb: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) — How to Find, Identify, and Use It

If you're out walking in fields, meadows, or sunny roadsides in South Central PA right now, you may come across a feathery, white-flowered plant known as yarrow. It's a native perennial with a long history of practical uses—from natural first aid to immune support.

🔍 How to Identify Yarrow:

Leaves: Soft, finely divided, and feather-like—often described as “fern-like” or “milfoil.”
Flowers: Small white (sometimes pale pink) blooms in flat-topped clusters. Each flower has five tiny petals.
Stems: Upright, green to slightly grayish, and can be faintly hairy.
Height: Typically 1–3 feet tall.
Aroma: Strong herbal scent when crushed.

Currently in Season: Yarrow blooms in this region from June through early September.

⚠️ Foraging Safety: Know the Look-Alikes

Yarrow is often mistaken for two plants you don’t want to harvest:

Queen Anne’s Lace – Also has white clusters, but features a central purple dot in the flower and hairy stems.
Poison Hemlock – Highly toxic. Look for purple-spotted smooth stems, a musty smell, and a taller, more robust build.

✅ When in doubt, leave it out. Use multiple identification features—not just flowers—and consult a field guide or plant ID app.

🌿 Traditional Uses of Yarrow:

Wound Care: Crushed leaves were historically used to stop bleeding and support skin healing.
Tea: Dried yarrow flowers and leaves are steeped to help ease fevers or digestive discomfort (note: bitter flavor, best with honey).
Pollinator Plant: Yarrow attracts beneficial insects and can be left standing to support local biodiversity.

🌱 Ethical Foraging Guidelines:

Harvest only from clean, pesticide-free areas.
Take a small portion—no more than 10% of a patch.
Leave the roots undisturbed so the plant can regrow.
Always triple-check plant identity before use, especially when foraging wild plants for consumption or topical use.

📍 Learning what grows in your region is a great way to deepen your connection to the land—safely, respectfully, and with curiosity.