PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 



39 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The entire herb is \ise<l; it should be collected during 

 the tlowering period and carefully dried. The price paid is about 5 to 6 cents a pound. 



By distillation of the fresh flowering herb a volatile oil is obtained, known as oil of 

 (leabane or oil of erigeron, which is sometimes employed in attempting to control 

 hemorrhages and diarrheal affections. The leaves and tops were formerly ofiicial 

 in the United States Pharmacopcipia, from 1S20 to ISSO, but the oil alone is now recog- 

 nized as official. The herb, 

 which has a faint agreeable 

 odor and an astringent and 

 bitter taste, is also used for 

 hemorrhages from various 

 sources and the bleeding 

 of wounds. It is also em- 

 ployed in diarrhea and 

 dropsy. 



YARROW. 



Achillea millefolium. L. 



Other common names. — 

 ^lillefolium, milfoil, thou- 

 sand-leaf, thousand-1 eaf 

 clover, gordolobo, green 

 arrow, soldier's wound- 

 wort, nosebleed, dog daisy, 

 bloodwort, sanguinary, car- 

 penter's grass, old-man 's- 

 pepper, cammock. 



Habitat and range. — Yar- 

 row is very common along 

 roadsides and in old fields, 

 pastures, and meadows 

 from the New England 

 States to Missouri and in 

 scattered localities in other 

 parts of the country. 



Descriptio7i. — This weed, 

 a perennial of the aster ^^'^' ■^'•~Yarrow {Achillea millefolium), Icavos and flowers. 



family (Asteraceae), is about 10 to 20 inches in height and has many dark-green 

 feathery leaves, narrowly oblong or lance shaped in outline and very finely 

 divided into numerous crowded parts or segments. Some of the leaves, especially 

 the basal ones, which are borne on stems, are as much as 10 inches in length and 

 about half an inch or an inch in width. The leaves toward the top of the plant 

 become smaller and stemless. From about June to September the flat-topped flow- 

 ering heads are produced in abundance and consist of numerous small, white 

 (sometimes rose-colored), densely crowded flowers. (Fig. 31.) Yarrow has a strong 

 odor, and when it is eaten by cows the odor and bitter taste are transmitted to dairy 

 products. 

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