Achillea millefolium L. subsp. borealis (Bong.) Breitung
Yarrow.
Asteraceae (Compositae), daisy family.
Amer. Midl. Naturalist 58: 58. 1957.
Achillea borealis Bong., Mem. Acad. Petersb. 2 ['Veg. Sitcha']: 149. 1833.
Type: Described from Alaska: Sitka. Achillea millefolium var. nigrescens is described from Canada: Labrador.
Achillea millefolium L. var. nigrescens E. Meyer, Pl. Labrad. 65. 1830.Achillea nigrescens (E. Meyer) Rydb., N. Amer. Fl. 34, 3: 221. 1916.
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs; (10–)20–35 cm high; with erect leafy flowering stems from underground rhizomes. Taproot absent. Caudex absent. Ground-level or under-ground stems horizontal; rhizomatous; elongate (not always present on herbarium specimens); 1–3 mm wide. Aerial stems erect; sparsely hairy, or densely hairy; stem hairs spreading. Leaves distributed along the stems. Leaves erect. Leaves alternate; compound; existing for a single season or less. Petioles present (basal leaves), or absent (cauline leaves); (0–)10–60 mm long; unwinged, or winged (slightly); hairy; pubescent; hairs more than the diameter of the petiole. Petioles hairs spreading; straight, or curved; smooth (multicellular). Blades 20–60(–100) mm long; 5–10(–15) mm wide. Blades spreading; veins pinnate. Blades adaxial surface glabrescent, or hairy. Blades adaxial surface hairs pilose, or villous; simple, unbranched; sparse, or moderately dense; white and translucent. Blades abaxial surface glabrescent, or hairy. Blades abaxial surface hairs moderately dense, or very dense. Blades abaxial surface puberulent, or pilose. Blades abaxial surface hairs white, or translucent hairs; straight, or curved; spreading. Blade margins dentate, or deeply divided (leaflets); with teeth all around the blade (bipinnate divisions with dentate margins or tripinnately divided); degree of incision 90–95 %. Leaf apices acute. Leaflets (10–)15–60 (the origin of the name millefolium); 1–7(–10) mm long; 1–6 mm wide; linear, or lanceolate. Leaflets veins inconspicuous. Apical leaflet base not distinctly stipitate.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems with leaves; hairy. Flowering stem hairs pilose, or villous; simple and glandular (floccose); shorter than the diameter of the flowering stem, or longer than the diameter of the flowering stem; white or translucent, or brown and yellow. Inflorescence of several flowering heads; globose or subglobose; 1.5–10(–15) cm long; 15–50 mm wide. Capitula 4.5–6 mm deep. Capitula 4–8 mm wide. Pedicels subtending flowering heads; with non-glandular hairs (with or without linear bract leaves associated with the involucre). Involucral bracts present; number of rows 3–4. Outer involucral bracts blade surface flat; with a green central portion and wide dark margins (broad, brown, scarious margins); lying adjacent to the flowers; lanceolate, or ovate; sparsely hairy; hairs non-glandular; 2–4 mm high; (0.8–)1–2 mm wide. Inner involucral bracts apex entire, or lacerate (or erose); lanceolate, or obovate; margins at the most with narrow and scarious, less than one quarter of the bract; 2.5–3.5 mm high; 0.4–0.8 mm wide. With ray and disc florets. Flowers actinomorphic (disc florets), or zygomorphic (ray florets). Perianth with a single whorl of petals. Calyx absent. Petals fused; 5; white, or pink (pale); 1.5–3 mm long. Corolla tubular, or funnel-form (disc florets), or ligulate (ray florets); unlobed to 3-lobed. Ray florets 3–4. Ray florets limb 4–5 mm long; 1.5–2 mm wide. Flowers unisexual (ray florets), or bisexual (disc florets). Stamens 5. Anthers 1.3–1.5 mm long. Gynoecia inferior. Carpels syncarpous; 2. Styles 1; 2.5–3 mm long. Stigmas per style 2. Placentation basal. Ovules 1. Fruit sessile. Fruit dry; cypselas; indehiscent. Fruit 1–2 mm long; 0.4–0.6 mm wide; golden brown; glabrous; surface appearing veinless. Seeds 1.
Chromosome information. 2n = 36 and 54. 36 (4x). -
Hedberg (1967 northern Canada, as A. millefolium s.lat., listed by
Löve and Löve 1975 as A. lanulosa); Packer and McPherson (1974
northern Alaska, listed by Löve and Löve 1975 as A. lanulosa).
54 (6x). - Lawrence (1947 Alaska); Mulligan and Bassett (1959
Canada); Löve and Ritchie (1966 central Canada); Taylor and Mulligan (1968
western Canada); Bassett and Crompton (1973 Alaska); Löve and Löve
(1982a arctic Canada). Ploidy levels recorded 4x&6x.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: North American; Canada, United States. Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories Islands, Continental Northwest Territories. Low arctic, or boreal (from Alaska to Newfoundland). Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago limited. Rare. Arctic Islands: Banks. Recorded from Banks Island, Masik River; sunny slopes on good soil; dry aluvials; M. Kuc, 1968 (CAN 385469).
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: along streams, river terraces, lake shores, slopes, flood plains; imperfectly drained moist areas, or moderately well drained areas; gravel, sand, silt; with low organic content, or with high organic content. Habitats: sand spits, sandy beaches, peat beach terraces. Phenology: flowering late July and early August on Banks Island.
Indigenous knowledge. Andre and Fehr (2000) reported that the Gwich'in used this plant for medicine. The whole plant including the flowers can be to amke a tea that relieves coughs and ulcers. A drink that prevents nosebleeds is made by boiling the white flowers in water for a few minuties. The whie flowers can be crushed and placed in the nostrils to stop nosebleeds. The liquid from teh boiled flowers can be used to soothe infected skina nd sunburns, or dy up skin rashes including exzema. A paste make from crushed flowers can be applied ot insect bites. Leaves and flowers can also be crushed into a pasteand put on wounds to control bleeding.
Notes. The generic name Achillea is usually interpreted as a
reference to Achilles, the legendary Greek hero of the Trojan War (about 1200
B.C.). He is said to have used the foliage of yarrow to stanch the flow of blood
from wounded fellow soldiers. A less romantic interpretation of the genus name
is that is commemorates a Greek doctor named Achilles who recorded the medicinal
uses of the plant. (Warwick and Black 1982).
Burt (2000) noted that the
flowers of the yarrow are white to pinkish and tend to become pinker with age.
The ray and disc petals are the same colour.
There are two records from
Banks Island, mapped in Porsild and Cody (1980). The specimens were not recorded
in Porsild (1957), and have not been found at CAN.
There are different
opinins concerning this species or species group. Hultén (1968) and
Hultén and Fries (1986) accepted three main northern entities,
A.
millefolium s. s. in all of Eurasia and as introduced in Greenland and
(non-arctic) North America,
A. lanulosa Nutt. as the main North
American entity but mapped only north to southern Hudson Bay, and
A.
borealis Bong. in all of northern (arctic and boreal) North America.
Hultén described and mapped them as species but indicated that
subspecies might be a better rank. This was the solution of Cody (1996) for
American representatives in the Yukon. Russian sources (Tzvelev in Yurtsev 1984
and Korobkov's draft for the Panarctic Flora checklist) accept three species but
with a different interpretation. Achillea millefolium s. s. is treated as
a southern and northern Eurasiatic species barely penetrating the Arctic (and
possibly not as a native). The northern Eurasiatic material is divided on (1)the
northernorthern European A. apiculata Orlova (that is included in
Hultén's concept of A. millefolium) and (2)a strongly disjunct
A. nigrescens (E. Meyer) Rydb. from north eastern Russia to Chukotka
(which according to Hultén is synonymous with his purely American A.
borealis). These opinions have not yet been reconciled by an analysis of
material.
Small and Catling (1999) reported that "yarrow has been used
medicinally for millennia in both North America and Europe. Its reputation for
healing wounds led to such common names as stanchweed, bloodwort, soldier’s
bloodwort, nose bleed, and carpenter’s grass. Principal traditional uses
besides stopping the flow of blood from wounds, included treatment of fevers,
the common cold, diarrhea, dysentery and hypertension. Yarrow has also been used
in folk medicine as a cure for toothache, earache, and diseases of the lungs,
bladder and kidney. Today it is employed internally (as a tea, tincture or pill)
to treat gastrointestinal complaints (inflammation, diarrhea, flatulence,
cramps), and as a bitter aromatic (to stimulate appetite); and externally in
poultices, lotions and bath preparations." Young yarrow leaves are sometimes
consumed (cooked or fresh) in salads (large amounts are said to turn urine
brown). The leaves and flowers are used to flavor liqueurs, and were once
substituted for hops to flavor beer. Yarrow also has insecticidal constituents
(Chandler, et al. 1982, Tunon et al. 1994).
Small and Catling (1999) noted
that "well over 100 chemicals have been characterized in yarrow. Of greatest
interest are the lactones, present in a volatile oil. A metabolic derivative of
these, azulene, was once thought to be the constituent primarily responsible for
the anti-inflammatory and antipruritic properties of yarrow however the
medicinal value could be due to chamazulene, the sesquiterpene lactones, or
other consituents such as tannins, menthol, camphor, sterols, and triterpenes.
The antispasmodic activity of yarrow could be due to its flavonoids. The
alkaloid achillenine is an active hemostatic agent, and may explain the
traditional uses of checking bleeding of wounds and sores. It has been
hypothesized that the salicylic acid derivatives eugenol, menthol, or similar
compounds may produce local algesia and reduction of fever. The presence of
thujone, a known abortificant, might explain some of the traditional uses of
yarrow associated with the female reproductive system (however, thujone is
usually present only in limited amounts)." The important constituent chamazule
appears to be present in tetraploid plants only (Bélanger and Dextraze
1992). The volatile constituents in Achillea vary in relation to the
infraspecific variation within the species (Kokkalou et al. 1992).
Yarrow
was once used in Ireland for love divination: young girls would cultivate a
yarrow plant and subsequently place it beneath their pillow so that they would
dream of their sweetheart. It was brought by bridesmaids to weddings to ensure
seven years of love. The closest that research has come to supporting such uses
is the finding that the volatile oil of yarrow causes a sexual response in male
cockroaches (Small and Catling 1999).
Illustrations. • Plant in environment. Plant with white flowers, growing between the markers. Manitoba, Churchill. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Plant with white flowers in the same habitat picture as the plant with pink flowers (see next image) . Manitoba, Churchill. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Close-up of plant with pink flowers.. Plant with pink flowering heads ininflorescences. Manitoba, Churchill. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence with pink flowers.. Inflorescence with pink flowering heads. Manitoba, Churchill. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Closer-up of inflorescence. Flowering head, capitulescence of flowering heads, capitula, each with prominent pink ray florets and tiny cream-coloured disc florets. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Close-up of capitulum. Close-up of capitulum with prominent pink ligulate petals on the ray florets and small paler petals on the disc florets that have yellow anthers. Manitoba, Churchill. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Close-up of white inflorescence. Inflorescence with white petals growing adjacent to one with pink flowers. Manitoba, Churchill. Aiken and Brysting, 01002. CAN. • Arctic Island Distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
