PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HEBBS. 39 
Collection, prices, and uses.—The entire herb is used; it should be collected during 
the flowering 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 
fleabane or oil of erigeron, which is sometimes employed in attempting to control 
hemorrhages and diarrheal affections. The leaves and tops were formerly official 
in the United States Pharmacopceia, from 1820 to 1880, 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.— 
Millefolium, milfoil, thou- 
sand-leaf, thousand-leaf 
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 localitiesin other 
parts of the country. 
Description.—This weed, 
a perennial of the aster Fig. 31.—Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), leaves and flowers. 
family (Asteracez), 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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