Yarrow

Scientific name: Achillea millefolium.

Common name: yarrow, soldier grass, yarrow, wound grass, blood tin.

English name: yarrow, nose bleed, milfoil, thousand leaf.

Parts used: flowering tops.

Components: essential oil: cineole, azulene, limonene; flavonoids: rutin, artemetin; coumarins, mucilages, tannins.

Properties: anti-inflammatory, astringent, firming, anti-redness and antiseborrheic.

Widespread throughout Italy, except in Sicily, it prefers meadows and grassy places, from the plain up to 2000 meters.

Curiosity: according to Pliny the derivation of the name derives from Achilles, who used the leaves to heal the wounds of Telephus, King of the Misi.

A bag of yarrow seeds hanging in a wine cask is thought to prevent the wine from altering.