A hardy herbaceous perennial, yarrow is renowned for wound healing and protection. Its namesake, Achillea millefolium, comes from the Greek hero Achilles, who purportedly brought yarrow to heal his soldiers’ wounds in the Trojan War (1200 BC). Bloom season is very long, April through October, and it grows 8-40 inches with multiple stems from one rhizomatous root that spreads. Leaves are feathery and fernlike, longer at the base and shorter near the top. Flowers are very small, with ray and tiny disc flowers in grouped bracts to form the whole floral shape. Indigenous folks and folk medicine practitioners used it to treat wounds, soothe headaches and colds, and aid digestion as a tea. In contrast, yarrow beer has been brewed in Europe since the Middle Ages. It otherwise has been used in Western Europe and China for divination.
Yarrow is accompanied by bees and the Lesser Fiery Copper butterfly in this work, acknowledging the partnership between plants and pollinators.
Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.