- YarrowAchillea millefolium L.
- Yellow DockRumex crispus L.
Yarrow
Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium L.
Family: Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Other Names: Milfoil · Soldier's Woundwort · Nosebleed · Staunchweed · Thousand-Leaf · Carpenter's Weed · Old Man's Pepper
Parts Used: Leaves and flowering tops
Quick Look
Yarrow is the feathery-leaved roadside plant with flat white flower clusters, and one of the great first-aid herbs. Reach for it to stop the bleeding of a cut or a nosebleed, as a hot tea at the start of a fever or cold to bring on a sweat, for heavy or painful periods, for tired, swollen veins, for a sluggish stomach, and for an irritated bladder. Its old names, Soldier's Woundwort and Staunchweed, tell its oldest use.
Actions, Energetics & Taste
Actions: Styptic(stops bleeding)Vulnerary(heals wounds)Diaphoretic(encourages sweating)Astringent(tightens and tones tissue)Antimicrobial(fights infection)Anti-inflammatory(reduces inflammation)Bitter(stimulates digestion)Emmenagogue(encourages menstrual flow)Diuretic(increases urine)
Yarrow is a balancer. It stops bleeding, yet it also gets sluggish blood moving; it brings on menstrual flow that is late, yet it calms flow that is too heavy. It also tones the walls of the veins and small blood vessels.
Herbalists see it as both warming and cooling. It sends warmth out to the skin to open the pores in a fever, which cools the body.
Sharp, green and a little like camphor, with a mild bitterness.
Body Systems: Skin · Circulatory · Respiratory · Reproductive · Digestive · Urinary · Mouth & Throat
How It's Been Used
Cuts & bleeding. Its most famous use. Fresh leaves, crushed or chewed, or the dried powder, are laid on a cut to stop the bleeding and keep it clean. A rolled leaf put in the nose was the old remedy for a nosebleed.
Fevers, colds & flu. Drunk hot at the start of a fever or cold, it opens the pores and brings on a sweat. It is often blended with Elder flower and Peppermint. A gargle helps a sore throat.
Veins. For varicose veins and hemorrhoids, and as a supporting herb for the heart and blood vessels.
Women's cycles. For heavy bleeding, menstrual cramps, and late or scanty periods.
Digestion. As a bitter for poor appetite, gas, cramping and a sluggish liver and gallbladder.
Bladder. For bladder irritation and infections, often with Uva Ursi and Marshmallow.
Mouth. A mouthwash for bleeding gums, and the chewed leaf or root for a toothache.
Skin & hair. A wash or salve for minor wounds, scrapes, bug bites and weepy rashes. A rinse with Nettle and Rosemary for the scalp.
Bug spray. It is used to keep insects away.
How to Make & Take It
Preparations: Tea · Tincture · Poultice · Powder · Salve · Gargle
- Tea: 1–2 teaspoons dried herb to a cup of boiling water. Cover and steep 10–15 minutes. Up to three cups a day. For a fever, drink it hot, a cup every two hours. For the bladder, drink it lukewarm or cool.
- Fever tea: Mix equal parts Yarrow, Elder flower and Peppermint. Steep 1–2 teaspoons in a cup of boiling water, covered, 15 minutes. Up to three cups a day, while the fever is active.
- Tincture: Put 1 ounce (by weight) of dried yarrow in a jar and cover it with 5 ounces of 80-proof vodka or brandy, adding more if the herb soaks it up. Steep 4 to 6 weeks, shaking every few days, and strain. Take ½ to 1 teaspoon in a little water, up to three times a day.
- First-aid wash: A dropperful of tincture in a little warm water to clean a wound or soothe a rash.
- Poultice: Crush or chew fresh leaves and press them on a cut.
- Powder: Powder the dried leaves and sprinkle a little on a small cut.
- Salve: Infuse the dried herb in oil and thicken with beeswax.
- Gather it in summer when it flowers. It grows easily in sun and poor, dry soil.
Cautions
- Avoid it in pregnancy, because it can stimulate the womb. Herbalists consider it safe while nursing.
- Those allergic to plants of the daisy family, such as ragweed, may react to it.
- Taken for months, it can make some people's skin more sensitive to the sun or bring on a rash.
- If you take blood thinners, blood pressure medicine or sedatives, ask your pharmacist first.
- Be sure of what you gather. Yarrow can be mistaken for deadly poison hemlock and water hemlock, and for Queen Anne's lace. Yarrow's leaves are finely feathered and smell sharp, and its flower heads are flat clusters of tiny daisy-like flowers. Poison hemlock has smooth, hollow stems with purple spots and umbrella-shaped flower clusters.
- Deep wounds or bleeding that will not stop need medical attention.
Know the Plant
Yarrow is a perennial one to three feet tall with an upright, angular, hairy stem. Its dark green leaves, three or four inches long, are cut into so many fine segments that they look feathery, which gave it the names Milfoil and Thousand-Leaf. From June to September it bears flat-topped clusters of tiny white flower heads, sometimes pink, each with a small pale yellow center. The whole plant has a sharp, fresh smell.
It grows across Europe, Asia and North America, in meadows, pastures, lawns, roadsides and waste places. It is easy to grow in full sun and dry soil and spreads by its roots.
A Little History
Yarrow is one of the oldest wound herbs known. Traces of it have even been found on ancient teeth. The Greek physician Dioscorides told how to pound the leaves onto fresh wounds, and it was used on Roman battlefields, where it was called the military herb. Its old English names, Soldier's Woundwort and Knight's Milfoil, carry the same story. Scottish Highlanders made an ointment of it, Swedes put it in their beer, and in the 1600s it was eaten in salads. The Eclectic physicians gave it for urinary irritation and heavy bleeding.
Back to the list of Y herbsYellow Dock
Botanical Name: Rumex crispus L.
Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)
Other Names: Curly Dock · Curled Dock · Sour Dock · Narrow Dock
Parts Used: The root. The young leaves are eaten as greens.
Quick Look
Yellow Dock is the common weed with long, wavy-edged leaves and tall stalks of rusty seeds, named for its bright yellow root. It is a gentle cleansing herb. Reach for it for sluggish bowels and constipation, for a sluggish liver and digestion, for hot, inflamed skin such as acne, boils and eczema, especially when the bowels are slow, and to help the body take up iron when the blood is low. The young leaves are a spring green, and a crushed leaf soothes a nettle sting.
Actions, Energetics & Taste
Actions: Alterative(gradually restores healthy function)Aperient(gentle laxative)Hepatic(supports the liver)Cholagogue(releases bile)Bitter(stimulates digestion)Astringent(tightens and tones tissue)Lymphatic(moves sluggish lymph)Blood tonic(builds the blood)
It moves the bowels gently, while its tannins tone them, so it seldom cramps and can help loose bowels too. It is thought to help the body take up iron rather than supplying much itself.
Best suited to heat in the gut and skin.
The root is bitter, then strongly puckering. The leaves are sour.
Body Systems: Digestive · Liver · Skin · Lymphatic · Mouth & Throat
How It's Been Used
Constipation. One of the best gentle herbs for slow bowels, and a good first choice before harsher laxatives. Herbalists use it to help people come off harsh laxatives, along with a diet rich in fiber and bitter greens.
Liver & digestion. As a bitter, it stirs the digestive juices and the flow of bile, and helps the liver clear wastes.
Skin. For acne, boils, eczema, psoriasis and itchy skin, especially with sluggish bowels. Used inside, and outside as a wash or salve.
Low iron. For tiredness from low iron, whether from a poor diet or blood loss, taken as a syrup with blackstrap molasses.
Swollen glands. For swollen glands and slow, stubborn sores.
Throat & gums. The old physicians gave it for a chronic sore throat and a dry cough. The cooled tea is a gargle for inflamed gums, and the powdered root was a tooth powder for spongy gums.
Diarrhea. Its astringency helps loose, watery bowels.
Stings. A crushed fresh leaf soothes nettle stings and bites.
Food. The young leaves are cooked as greens, and the seeds can be ground into flour.
How to Make & Take It
Preparations: Decoction · Syrup · Vinegar · Tincture · Wash · Salve · Poultice
- Root tea: Simmer 1 teaspoon of dried, chopped root in a cup of water, covered, about 20 minutes. Do not boil it long. Drink 1 cup up to three times a day.
- Iron syrup: Simmer ½ cup of chopped root in 2 cups of water until it cooks down by half. Strain, measure, and stir in an equal amount of blackstrap molasses. Keep it in the refrigerator and use it within three months. Take 1 to 3 tablespoons a day, and eat plenty of foods rich in iron and vitamin C.
- Root vinegar: Put 1 cup of dried root in a pint jar and cover it with apple cider vinegar. Strain after a few weeks and use it on salads and cooked greens.
- Tincture: ¼ to ½ teaspoon in a little water, three times a day. For constipation, take it at bedtime for a morning result. A tincture holds little of the root's iron, so use the syrup for that.
- Gentle on the belly: Pair it with Peppermint or Fennel if it causes any cramping.
- Wash or gargle: Use the cooled root tea on itchy skin, bites and sores, or as a gargle.
- Salve: Make the root into a salve for the skin.
- Leaf poultice: Crush a fresh leaf on a nettle sting.
- Greens: Gather the young leaves in spring. Blanch them in boiling water 1 to 2 minutes and pour off the water.
- Gather the root in late summer or fall, after the seeds ripen. The yellowest roots are the best. Scrub off the dark skin, chop, and dry.
Cautions
- Herbalists differ on its use in pregnancy and nursing, and its safety then has not been established. Talk with a knowledgeable herbalist or care provider first.
- The leaves are high in oxalates. Eat only small amounts raw, or cook them. Avoid large amounts with kidney stones or gout.
- It is not for long-term daily use as a laxative.
- Avoid it with a blocked bowel or with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.
- It can add to potassium loss with water pills.
- Avoid it with hemochromatosis, a condition of too much iron.
- Large amounts of the fresh root can cause vomiting.
- Do not gather it where weed killer may have been sprayed.
- Constipation that lasts, or blood in the stool, needs medical attention.
Know the Plant
Yellow Dock is a perennial, two to four feet tall. Its long, narrow, lance-shaped leaves have wavy, curled edges and grow in a clump at the base, with smaller ones up the stalk. A thin, papery sheath wraps the stem where each leaf joins it. From late spring the tall stalk bears whorls of tiny greenish flowers that turn to dense clusters of rusty-brown, papery seeds, which stand through the winter. The deep taproot is brown outside and yellow inside.
It is native to Europe and Asia and now grows nearly everywhere, along roadsides, in fields, pastures and waste ground. Bitter Dock, with broad, heart-shaped leaves and red stems, is a close relative used much the same way, but more bitter.
A Little History
The docks were called Lapathum by the Greeks, a name tied to cleansing, and they were long counted blood purifiers. Dock leaves were eaten against scurvy, and the root boiled in vinegar was laid on itching skin and sores. The Eclectic physicians gave it for skin disease with "bad blood," swollen glands, sore throats and the itch that plagued soldiers in camp, and Maud Grieve recommended it as a tonic for rheumatism and bilious complaints. Today herbalists use it chiefly for the bowels, liver, skin and blood.
Back to the list of Y herbsFor educational purposes only. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
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