Yarrow

Yarrow often provokes bewilderment among medicinal plant experts because it cannot be clearly defined. For example, yarrow can both stop and cause nosebleeds, or it can both relieve and cause cramps. Especially in the Western cultural sphere, where people often struggle with the polarity of all existence and seek clear-cut conditions, it is not easy to grasp the true magnitude of yarrow. The polarization is clearly visible in yarrow’s signature.

To understand this, we need to explore the structural principle of the Asteraceae family to which yarrow belongs. As the name suggests, the Asteraceae have complex flower heads arranged into heads. The sunflower, for instance, is not a single flower but an inflorescence composed of hundreds of flowers. Each yellow ray on the periphery or each sunflower seed inside the flower head originates from a different flower.

The flower head is held together externally by a common receptacle and a covering of mostly green bracts. At a superficial glance, yarrow might be mistaken for a member of the Apiaceae family. The individual “flowers” form an umbel-shaped flower head. For the Asteraceae, it is unique that the already complex flower heads – the small heads – are combined again into an overall umbel-like complex.

Unlike the Apiaceae, the flower head of yarrow is not umbrella-shaped but quite flattened, so that the plant looks like a large T when viewed from the side. It can be observed that the flower heads (small heads) are completely withdrawn from the area of stem and leaf, raised instead to a plane at the top of the plant. Therefore, we do not find the harmonious integration of the flower heads typical of the plant family into the whole plant, but rather a separation, a polarization between the stem and leaf region on one hand and the flower area on the other. This separation is further emphasised by the fact that the flower head forms a plane appearing to be mounted on the stem.

The flower colour is mostly white, but there are always specimens in nature with pink flowers. This does not indicate a different species but shows that yarrow is not fixed on a specific colour. Moving further to examine the stem and leaves, we find that both visually appear mismatched. The light green stems are coarse and woody – if dried stem pieces are dropped on a table, they make a clicking sound (in the Chinese I Ching, yarrow stems are used) – while the leaves are very soft, blue-green and extremely finely twice pinnate.

Yarrow does not exhibit the usual harmonious interplay between stem and leaves, where the leaves gradually arise from the stem. The leaves seem appended and foreign to the stem. Taking a closer look at the leaves, which give the species its name, “millefolium” means a thousand leaves and refers to the multiple divisions of individual leaves. Although there are not literally a thousand leaf segments, the degree of differentiation of a yarrow leaf is extraordinary.

This differentiation always goes hand in hand with distinguishing opposites. The more opposed aspects of a thing we consciously perceive, the more differentiated and true is our understanding. In this sense, polarization and differentiation are cyclically recurring stages in the process of knowledge. Both are found in yarrow.

We can also perceive two opposing components in its scent and aroma. Yarrow tastes bitter on the one hand, thus acting astringently and concretely, and on the other hand it has a typical – not too strong – aroma that I would most describe as floating. Whenever I test yarrow, I have the impression that part of the aroma wants to lead away to distant worlds, while the other part is very focused on the here and now. The tubular florets are white like the ligulate florets.

One of the most essential features of yarrow is its special radiance. When I observe flowering yarrow at a shady forest edge, I believe I perceive a gentle glow from its flowers. As the flowers physically emit no light, this is an intuitive perception of an ethereal light. It is, in a sense, a light of nature to recognise polarities.

There is a clear sign of this inner glow in its external form. In yarrow flowers, unlike other Asteraceae, the inner tubular florets are also white, like the outer ligulate florets. Since the small heads, as mentioned above, stand very close together, the flower head appears like a continuous white (or pink) surface. Thus, the flower head appears much brighter, reflecting more light than would be the case with a ‘normal’ flower colouration. The yarrow flowers are “drawn up” to a plane at the top of the plant.