Perhaps the kookiest character yet from the storied Camelot Court is currently in charge of the nation’s health and perhaps out to kill it with a thousand cuts. So maybe it’s time to consult mythology for local ways to stop the bleeding. In the Iliad, Homer wrote of Achilles using the herb, thought to be yarrow, to treat wounds from the battlefield. The flesh of common yarrow — a cosmopolitan species that, in America, is a genetic blend of a non-native progenitor and our own native variety — indeed contains an alkaloid with a blood-clotting property. (The name of the plant’s genus is in tribute: Achillea.)
- millefolium is a tough and reliable pollinator-friendly perennial, but its prolific reseeding and rhizomatous spreading may make it too difficult for a manicured garden bed. (Perfect, though, for an unkempt estate.) Its delicate fern-like foliage, which grows in shades from gray to bright green, goes a long way to soften its reputation.
