432 



YARROW. 



several descending fibres. The stem is erect, simple, and 

 smooth below, but towards the summit striated, woolly, and 

 somewhat branched, tinged with reddish purple, and about a 

 foot in height. The leaves are sessile, alternate, elongated, 

 semi-amplexicaul, bipinnate ; pinnae numerous, opposite, with 

 the segments deeply lobed, often trifid, acute, hairy beneath ; 

 the radical leaves are the longest, and have membranous, short, 

 rather sheathing petioles. The flowers form a terminal, fasti- 

 giate, paniculate corymb, with oblong, pubescent, pinnatifid 

 bracteae at the base of the peduncles. The involucre is ovate, 

 downy, of several imbricated, ovate, concave, downy scales, 

 membranous and brownish at the margin. The florets of the 

 disk are about twelve, small, hermaphrodite, with a yellowish 

 tube, and a limb of five short revolute segments : the florets of 

 the ray are seven to ten in number, ligulate, white *, spreading, 

 roundish, retuse, obtusely three-toothed, and contain only a 

 pistil, which is rather longer than the tube. The filaments are 

 five, short and slender ; the anthers yellow, connected. The 

 germen is oblong, somewhat compressed, glabrous, supporting 

 a capillary style, and a bifid, reflexed stigma. The fruit or 

 achenium is linear-cuneiform, brownish white, somewhat toothed 

 at the summit, and is seated on a flat, chaffy receptacle. Plate 

 48, fig. 4, (a) entire flower, somewhat magnified ; (b) floret of 

 the ray magnified ; (c) floret of the disk magnified. 



This plant is very common in pastures and by way-sides, 

 flowering from June to September. 



The genus derives its name from the warrior Achilles, who 

 is said to have discovered its virtues. One of the common 

 names, Milfoil, is a corruption of the Latin Millefolium, re- 

 ferring to the much-divided leaves. It is sometimes called 

 Nose-bleed, as the leaves introduced up the nose, by means of 

 their short hairs act as a mechanical irritant and cause it to 

 bleed, thus affording relief to the megrim, as Gerard in- 

 forms us. 



There are three other species of Achillea indigenous to 

 Britain, but rather local, except the A. Ptarmica, which has 

 linear-lanceolate, acuminate, sharply serrated leaves, and is 

 not uncommon in moist meadows. The Common Yarrow is 



* The corollR are sometimes pale purple or rose-coloured. 



