Achilles and his fake carrot

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) flowers June – November so its blooms still brighten campus grasslands. Typically of the Asteraceae,  Yarrow `flowers’ are clusters of tube-florets surrounded by 5 ray-florets masquerading as petals. These capitula gather further  into dense heads, or corymbs, resembling the umbels of the Apiaceae (ex-Umbelliferae). Also like several umbellifers (e.g. Angelica, some Hedge Parsleys and Burnet Saxifrages), Yarrow’s flower-colour ranges from white to pink and even purple. Finely divided, bi- or tripinnate leaves (millefolium=`thousand leaves’) complete a superficial resemblance to many Apiaceae. Coincidence or convergent evolution? On campus, Yarrow certainly occupies  similar niches to some umbellifers, even mingling with Wild Carrot, Daucus carota (below right: with Ribwort Plantain as well):

Achillea in association with Daucus carota etc. on Whiteknights campus

What determines Yarrow’s  flower-colour?

From white to pink and dark pink

Plants spread by stolons to create same-coloured clonal patches, but neighbouring patches can differ greatly, as if some had been splashed with blood. Perhaps this led -by `sympathy’ – to the old medicinal use of Yarrow to staunch bleeding (alternative names: Staunchwort and Carpenter’s Weed). In `Wild Flowers of Britain’, Phillips explains `Achillea’ by  Achilles’ use of Yarrow to treat his warriors’ wounds. Much good did it do him….

(All pictures copyright D. Solomon)

 

This entry was posted in Asteraceae, Flowering Plants. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.