656. Achillea millefolium Linn, h.f.b.l, III. 312.
Syn. :— A. cuspidata, DC. Wall. Cat. 32-30.
Vern. : — Rojamari (Bomb.) ; Biranjasif (Cutch) ; Stewart says that this is one of the plants sold in the Bazars under the names Momâdru chopândiga (Kashmir) ; Bui Mâderan (Afghanistan).
Eng. : — Milfoil or common Yarrow. The older English writers called this plant Nose-bleed, because the leaves, if inserted into the nostrils, were supposed to cause bleeding. Sold in Bombay as Rosemary.
Habitat : — Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to Kumaon ; alt. 6-9,000 feet.
An erect, pubescent herb. Root stoloniferous. Stems 6-24 in., furrowed, leafy. Leaves alternate, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 3 pinnatisect, 2-4 by ¼-⅓in. ; radical leaves petioled, segments close set, acute ; upper leaves sessile. Heads many, radiate, ¼in. diam., crowded in compound corymbs. Involucre bracts few, erect ; outer ones shorter ; receptacle flat, covered with thin, oblong scales, nearly as long as the flowers. Flowers white or pale-pink. Pappus none ; 5-lobed. Achenes oblong, flattened shining.
Parts used : — Leaves and flower-heads.
Uses: — In Scotland at the present day, a warm decoction of the fresh leaves is regarded as a family specific against the colds and other ailments common to childhood.
This plant once held a creditable position amongst British drugs, and its recent introduction into the American Pharmacopœia may have the effect of reviving its use in England. It might, with great advantage, be added to our list of Indian indigenous drugs. Formerly, it was much used in England as a " vulnerary, and was given internally for the supression of hæmorrhages and of profuse mucous discharges. It was employed also in intermittents and as an antispasmodic in flatulent colic and nervous affections. Its hot infusion is used as an emmenagogue in France, and also in the suppression of the lochia ; it is sometimes employed in low exanthematous fevers
