692 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



656. Achillea millefolium Linn, h.f.b.l, III. 

 312. 



Syn. :— A. cuspidata, DO. Wall. Cat. 32-30. 



Vern. : — Rojamari (Bomb.) ; Biranjasif (Cutch) ; Stewart 

 says that this is one of the plants sold in the Bazars under 

 the names Momadru chopdndiga (Kashmir) ; Bui Maderan 

 (Afghanistan). 



Eng. : — Milfoil or common Yarrow. The older English 

 writers called this plant Nose-bleed, because the leaves, if 

 inserted into the nostrils, were supposed to cause bleeding. 

 Sold in Bombay as Rosemary. 



Habitat : — Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to Kumaon ; alt. 

 6-9,000 feet. 



An erect, pubescent herb. Root stoloniferous. Stems 6-24 

 in., furrowed, leafy. Leaves alternate, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 

 3 pinnatisect, 2-4 by \- Jin. ; radical leaves petioled, segments 

 close set, acute ; upper leaves sessile. Heads many, radiate, 

 \m. diam., crowded in compound corymbs. Involucre bracts 

 few, erect ; outer ones shorter ; receptacle flat, covered with 

 thin, oblong scales, nearly as long as the flowers. Flowers 

 white or pale-pink. Pappus none ; 5-lobed. Achenes oblong, 

 flattened shining. 



Parts used : — Leaves and flower-heads. 



Uses: — In Scotland at the present day, a warm decoction 

 of the fresh leaves is regarded as a family specific against the 

 colds and other ailments common to childhood. 



This plant once held a creditable position amongst British 

 drugs, and its recent introduction into the American Pharma- 

 copoeia may have the effect of reviving its use in England. It 

 might, with great advantage, be added to our list of Indian 

 indigenous drugs. Formerly, it was much used in England as 

 a " vulnerary, and was given internally for the supression of 

 haemorrhages and of profuse mucous discharges. It was em- 

 ployed also in intermittents and as an antispasmodic in flatul- 

 ent colic and nervous affections. Its hot infusion is used as an 

 emmenagogue in France, and also in the suppression of the 

 lochia ; it is sometimes employed in low exanthematous fevers 



