Yarrow Herb Benefits and Identification
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- In this video we take a look at Yarrow herb and its identification features as well as some of it's uses and benefits. This distinct plant is really easy to identify and is named after it's supposed discoverer Achilles who used Yarrow to heal sword wounds on his troops.
Yarrow has four petaled white flowers that bloom from May to September in my area and has an alternating leaf pattern. The leaves have very fine dissections and resemble feathers in my opinion. The stem has a woolly like covering and the whole plant is aromatic.
Yarrow has many uses and benefits such as being used to heal cuts and rather deep wounds, it's anti inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and pain relieving too. Yarrow can be used in tinctures, teas, salves, balms, soaps, shampoos, and more. This versatile and very useful herb is a favorite among many herbalists and for good reason.
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Herbalists say "yarrow knows what to do with the blood". It not only stops bleeding from fresh wounds, but it moves stagnant blood too, so applying it to a bruise can be helpful. Adding yarrow tea to a bath can help varicose veins, but it shouldn't be done more than twice a week.
Mild yarrow tea or a bit of tincture added to half a glass of water makes an excellent rinse for bleeding or otherwise problematic gums. I've heard that yarrow root held on an aching tooth will relieve the pain, but I haven't tried that so I cannot confirm.
Yarrow tea, taken as hot as you can stand it, is also excellent at the beginning of a cold or flu. It's best to go to bed right after, and be prepared to sweat! It can shorten the length and severity of a cold quite dramatically.
Josh, I have to say I'm a little alarmed to see you recommending lobelia for pain in the comments here. Lobelia is a highly unpredictable herb that really shouldn't be used without the supervision of someone who is trained in its use. It has some use in formulas, because as the old herbalists put it, it "has brains", meaning it can direct the rest of the remedy where it needs to go. But using any more than the smallest amount possible can overpower the other herbs, meaning the remedy doesn't work as desired.
Lobelia can cause quite severe dizziness, vomiting, heart palpitations, paranoia, hyperactivity or the opposite, sedation, depending on the person and the dosage. There are so many other pain relieving plant medicines to choose from that it is definitely getting to know that long list we have to choose from rather than using something that can go so terribly wrong.
Herbal medicine is very specific, we don't really have one-size-fits-all remedies. But we DO have different remedies for different kinds of pain that work far better than OTC drugs. So we have the advantage over Big Pharm in some ways, but we have to do the work to educate ourselves and each other.
Sorry for the rant, feel free to delete if it's too long. I just felt this was important information you'd want to have.
No need to apologize Christine. I can't see the comment you're referring to at the moment but will try to find it when I can so I can get some context of what I said. Usually I recommend a couple drops of the tincture and that's it and try to stress not to overdo it with lobelia. When I give lobelia to people I know they usually take about 3 - 4 drops of the tincture at a time, and that's what I take as well.
Yarrow is great for a lot of things, I used it recently to get rid of strep throat, along with boneset. I have seen people use yarrow for tooth pain by just simply chewing on a leaf from the plant and I have chewed the flowertops to relieve pain and fight infection. It works wonders for a lot of things. In my experience using yarrow tincture with lobelia tincture has gotten rid of sever pain for me, like when I cut the tip of my thumb in half a few years ago. That was the time I took too much lobelia and yarrow, (half a dropper full of each in tincture form) and boy was I feeling good. Mild hallucinations, muscles not working very well, and I was out like a light for hours. I never recommend anyone ever get to that point and I will never get to that point again. The next few days I took much less and they still removed the pain well.
Sorry for alarming you, I'll try to find the comment and see what I wrote. Thanks for bringing this up Christine, you always have valuable information to share!
Ahh, I found it. "For the pain some tincture of Yarrow and Lobelia, or just Yarrow should work, though the poultice might rid the pain."
There was no clarification on my part, which is rare. I try my best to clarify with lobelia but definitely did not on this comment. My apologies.
Noticed yarrow and recognized it for what it is just days after watching this video on my walk with our dog today. I picked some and tucked it into my belt and *now it's a poultice on my scraped knee* that's been rather slow to heal due to the constant bending. What timing!!! *Thank you so much!* P.S. For anyone trying it for this purpose, the analgesic effect (pain killing) kicks in after about 10 minutes of _burning_ so be patient and don't freak out and wash it off, LOL!
Found some beautiful yarrow growing in my yard near a group of trees. Oklahoma...
Really enjoying your videos. I am very new to foraging and identifiying wild plants for medicinal purposes (although I have been a hiker and outdoors person all my life) and I find your videos so clear, easy to understand, short, and to the point. I tried a number of different channels before coming here and either there was too much talking about random things before or during the video that had nothing to do with the herbs or the pictures and explanation just wasn't that clear. I have tons of wild yarrow where I live in the country and am excited to start collecting and using it.
I live in montana, where this stuff grows abundantly. I never realized what I was walking past until now. I've heard on top of the medicinal properties that it's also a good bug repellent. Crush up some leaves and rub it around any exposed skin you don't want mosquitoes to bite
Very informative. I remember Yarrow plants from where I'm from in Long Island NY. Wow 👏 I will make a tea of it for my brother who suffers pain. Thank you. I have relocated to myrtle Beach. I know ill find some
Thank you for helping me to ID Yarrow!!! Great channel!
No problem glad it helped, thanks Rich!
Back in the late 90's it was 'promised' that 4000 smells would exist from a combination of a few base chemicals. It was called Smell-O-Vision, and it was part of the Dot Com Scams/Boom/Bomb. What we need today, to augment your video is better verbal skills and base knowledge, and/or Smell-O-Vision.
My verbal skills lack because I am a majorly anxious introvert and am overly critical of myself while talking, but I really do wish people could smell the plants I'm discussing! That would be awesome!
I have seen these leaves many times, was probably yarrow. I will take a closer look at them this year. Very useful video.
From where you are Yarrow should be in flower from May to August, so keep an eye out for those flowers mentioned in this video, and compare them to wild carrot if possible. There are not many other plants in our area that can look similar. The leaves however are usually a dead giveaway of Yarrow. A close inspection with comparison to this video should give you an idea of what you have.
Awesome, thank you very much bro! Will do!
You're welcome Daniel, glad to be of help!
Really good video. Thorough explanation of identification and health benefits of yarrow. I also appreciate the cautions. Thank you!
Absolutely welcome Janet, glad you liked it and found it helpful! Thanks for commenting!
Thank you for the warm welcome!! :)
No problem!
Beautiful information thank you so much
Thank you very much for the informative video you covered pretty much everything I wanted to know about the plant including when I can use it I'm glad it's something I can use your round.
Just for general knowledge and the fact that I like to prep I was looking at homemade quick clot recipes when someone mentioned this flower which led me to your videos and I'm glad it did.
Very good, very good video, and informative.
Didn't know it had thujone (?) in it. I was going to say, if you took another whiff, that thujone must be good stuff.....lol
I read somewhere that yarrow leafs were called the eyebrows of Venus.
Yarrow is a medicinal..will heal a wound or soar via cut in three days. Native americans used it when dancing and pck the wounds when they pierced
I've had some bad cuts that took a little more than 3 days to heal completely but Yarrow is absolutely the best for healing up a cut, especially when mixed with plantain and white oak bark.
I believe i found this in great number. It smells minty or something when i muddle its flowers. Id also maybe compare it to the green rinds of shagbark hickory nuts maybe? Also with some sort of fruitiness
Hmmm... I've always interpreted Yarrow as a more bitter flavor/smell with some astringency to it, but others I've taught get all kinds of smells. If it has all the features in this video then it probably is a Yarrow. There are ornamental varieties that have different colored flowers but the Hickory smell you mentioned is what would I call astringency in the smell. If the flowers are white and it is as portrayed in the video then it is true Yarrow, not an ornamental variety of Yarrow which may have some or no use...I'm not sure of ornamental varieties. Also Wild Yarrow doesn't have really much variation when you compare it to other plants like Queen Anne's Lace. I hope this helps a bit and good luck finding out what it is Soviless99. Thank you for commenting!
great video 👍
Great video! Found a batch of Yarrow in my yard and was pleased to find it has so many great uses. The drunk and hallucinagenic effect you mentioned was moreover very fascinating. Pretty curious on if people have used yarrow in the past to get high and if you had any fun anecdotes :)
Yarrow is one of my favorite wild plants for medicine because of just how versatile it is.
It's not uncommon to read accounts of it being used historically in smoking blends around parts of Europe and the United States, some Native American tribes used it in smoking mixtures generally for it's calming and euphoric effects. It wasn't used to get high specifically in the way we do today, it was more ceremonial than recreational.
However in some of the spice mixtures that were going around approximately 10 years ago you could find Yarrow flowers as an ingredient.
I have had some effects from it and I'll tell you about them. The first time was when I cut the tip of my thumb in half. Once I got home I had used a full dropper of yarrow and Lobelia tincture in the cut, and then took a full dropper of both internally. I did that to heal the cut, clean it out, and to reduce pain and inflammation. It did all that and then some. I couldn't move for a couple hours and the room I was in had wavy bands of color that were spinning around. I felt absolutely no pain during this time but again I literally couldn't move for a few hours, like I could breathe and talk and blink but that was it.
The second time was when I had a bad infection on my cheek that was getting painful and could have turned dangerous quickly. So I went hiking to find some Yarrow and white oak. I found white oak first then Yarrow last. I chewed on the twigs of the oak while munching on the Yarrow tops. Raw Yarrow is nasty and bitter as hell and my initial reaction was to spit it out. Within a few minutes I started feeling drunk. Within 30 minutes I felt like I had drank about a fifth of vodka by myself, except I didn't have the uncomfortable stomach feeling one gets with lots of alcohol. The friend I was with had to help me out of the park because I could barely walk at all let alone in a straight line. He drove me home and I picked up my car the next day. After that I had a new found respect for Yarrow and it's power over the human body.
Sorry for the long response but those are my stories with Yarrow. Thanks for asking and commenting!
@@TrilliumWildEdibles That is really fascinating. Thanks for sharing your anecdotes. I find that the more I read about yarrow the more interesting it gets.
I am definitely keeping the patch of yarrow in my yard (if it really is yarrow). I am about 90% sure it is but the plants are still very young so it is hard for a beginner like me to be sure. It has signs of yarrow and a forum says it is, but I tried chewing and spitting out a tiny bit and it was not bitter at all, which made me a little unsure. Guessing though that that was because of how young the plants are.
Btw, although I find it very interesting I am not planning to recreationally use yarrow. The muscle spasm and loss of physical control really freaks me out to be honest. For cuts, insect bites and nosebleeds (which I unfortunately get quite often) it would be really useful though. It would also be fun to compare it to the effects of aloevera, which is what I currently use on cuts and insect bites.
Keep up the good work and definitely subscribing!
I just ran across your channel..love the video it was very informational..thank you..oh ya and I just subscribe..
I've been trying to look for yarrow around my area. Haven't had any luck yet, but then I learned about water hemlock and poison hemlock... 😬
I'm trying to do as much research as I possibly can, so I can be as confident as possible before I try harvesting ANY yarrow. I wanna be 110% sure that I have yarrow and not some sort of hemlock. After all the horror stories I'm hearing about ppl just touching it, I'm terrified to go anywhere near it. I'm prob gonna be afraid to even breathe around it if I ever found myself near any of it in the future 🤣
Thank you for this video. Very informative.
You're very welcome, glad you liked it!
i just found some today!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😇🥰😇🥰😇🥰😇🥰😇🥰😇🥰
Hey Josh! I was told Achillea millefolium is used for menstruation pain. Do you know which part of the plant is better used for this? Thank you!! :)
We are in Indiana too!
Great video thanks 😊
Great video! Thank you , new sub
You're very welcome stopthe madness! Thank you for the new sub too!
Your vids are the bomb!
Perhaps the field guides are looking more at the flowers which do look similar to each other.
That could be, they look somewhat similar but Hemlock has so much space in between the individual flowers, whereas Yarrow flowers are much more tightly compact. From the right angle though to some people they very well might mistake them. Thanks for commenting!
Thank you
You're welcome, I'm glad it helped you!
How can you best use yarrow to help heal gums after wisdom teeth removal? A tea, chew, etc?
First, owww those suck!!!! I would add the leaves and flowers to the gauze that usually is in your mouth, I.E. a spit poultice is what it would technically be called. For the pain some tincture of Yarrow and Lobelia, or just Yarrow should work, though the poultice might rid the pain. Word of caution, Yarrow is very bitter and will make you salivate, also be careful of taking too much to often. Hope this helps and you get to feeling better soon!
Trillium: Wild Edibles THANKS for the compassion! Much appreciate . Do you mean with poultice, to apply it on top of the gauze? Let the yarrow pieces get directly in and on the wound? Tincture? like an alcohol mixture?
dannitru No problem man, I've been there and they hurt. The Yarrow should be wrapped in between the gauze. I would keep it out of the wound, not because of infection but because it might be hard to get any pieces out once the wounds heal. And yes an alcohol tincture, though glycerin based tinctures will work the same if you prefer them over alcohol based ones. Hope this helps and any more questions feel free to ask!
White yarrow is the most medicinal.
Do the leaves have a wooly covering as well, like the stem?
Yeah it is wooly/hairy, the leaves and stem.
Thanks for the yarrow info! Here's a grammar tip for you. The possessive form of it: its. It's (with apostrophe) means it is.
You're very welcome for the info! I'm well aware of the possessive form, it was a typo. Thank you for catching that, I will fix it.
Love yarrow! Great video :)
It's one of my favorite herbs as well. I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for watching and commenting David!
It reminds me of the carrot family...
It often times is confused with Daucus carota or Queen Anne's Lace, which is a wild carrot. It also can be confused with Hemlock as there is a bit of similarity in the leaves. Yarrow is in the aster family, whereas carrots, wild and domestic belong to the apiaceae family. Thanks for commenting Helen!
They made the carrot from queen Anne's lace and the wild yam. Not in the same family but they still crossbred them. That's why i dont eat carrots. Manmade foods cause nothing but chaos and destruction in the body 😊
Up north? Or towards the ohio valley? o: Cheers from Indiana mate.
This video was filmed in central Indiana. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I am trying to identify a weed that has 8 white petals like yarrow but also has multiple tiny elliptical bladders near the stem. Is this still Yarrow or would anyone have any ideas on what this is?
What do the leaves look like?
@@TrilliumWildEdibles I just went out to look again - the leaves are long elliptical with a point and the bladders I saw were future seed heeds. The weed typically has between 8-12 flower tops each with 8 petals of 4 *2 duplicates if that helps at all. Any ideas as it is definitely not Yarrow?
Great video, although the American pronunciation of Yarrow is funny.
How do you pronounce it? Just curious. :-)
Hard to find???? Not in Saskatchewan
Good medicine is supposed to taste better