Achillea Clypeolata

Scientific description

Scientific description

Taxon: Angiospermatophyta (Magnoliophyta)
Class: Dicotyledonatae (Magnoliatae)
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales (Compositales)
Family: Asteraceae (Compositae)
Common name: Yellow Yarrow.
Origin: Balkan.

Description: A 10–50 cm tall herbaceous plant with roots extending deep into the ground, with thick, woody rhizomes. Presenting one to five flowering stems and clusters of sterile leaf rosettes, the stem has fine hairs and is straight, striated, unbranched or rarely branched, erect, gradually leafless. The leaves also present fine hairs and are deeply divided, sessile, serrated. The flowers are small and radiate, lemon-yellow, arranged in small corymb inflorescences, which are further arranged in cymes. It blooms in June–July.

Propagation: seeds.

Ecology: It grows in meadows, shrubs, on uncultivated land. It thrives in dry, sunny areas, on neutral, xerophytic soils.

Use: In traditional medicine, the inflorescences are used in decoctions, infusions or teas to treat bronchitis, enterocolitis, gastritis, gastric colic, liver insufficiency, cystitis, anorexia, and some intestinal conditions. It can also treat hemorrhoids, menstrual pain, and pinworms.

Threat: It is a thermophilic, heliophilic, rare plant, mentioned in the Red List of superior plants from Romania (Oltean et al., 1994). It is threatened by the replacement of grasslands with arable and grazing land.

Creative writing inspired by Achillea Clypeolata

Written by Mara Parfinov

The Yellow Yarrow

Once upon a time, in a distant kingdom, love did not exist. Among people, there was only hatred and harsh words. However, one day, a little boy, wandering near his home, found a strange yellow and delicate plant on a field. When he saw it, the boy wanted to take it home, so he picked it, not knowing that it would not survive once removed from the soil.

He took it home and placed it in a glass of water. When his mother saw the colorful flower, she grabbed it and threw it away, unwilling to have anything bright in the house, as neither she nor the people around her had a bright heart. What she didn’t know, however, was that the flower was magical. She left the glass of water on the table and walked away. When the boy came home, he didn’t know where the flower had gone, but he did not suspect that the glass of water was the very one in which the flower had been. So, he took a sip. At that moment, he felt a tingling on his skin and shivers running through his body. Within three seconds, his body felt light. For the first time, he experienced emotions—he felt… happy.

Then, he realized this was the effect of the flower. And as he felt love and happiness, he thought that maybe others should feel the same. But where was the flower? He didn’t stop to look for it. Instead, he hurried outside and picked another one, which he then placed in multiple glasses of water. He went to his family first. He gave the water to his mother, father, grandparents, and sister, and the flower had the same effect on all of them. Together, they prepared more glasses of water infused with the flower and offered them to the villagers. They drank. Soon, the entire kingdom was filled with happiness, and love blossomed in everyone’s hearts.

From that day on, whenever a baby was born, they were given this special water so they would grow up to be kind. They even gave the flower a name: The Yarrow. A unique name, chosen by the very child who had discovered it. Years passed, and the kingdom was forever changed. People who once knew nothing of love learned to be gentle and kind to one another. There was no longer a need for magical flowers, for their hearts now carried warmth and goodness. The boy who had found the flower grew up. One day, as he walked through the same field where he had discovered it, he noticed that it no longer shone as brightly. The Yellow Yarrow had fulfilled its purpose—it had given love to an entire kingdom.

At that moment, the boy understood: the magic had never been in the flower alone, but in the power of sharing kindness. He placed his hand over his heart and smiled. From that day forward, love no longer needed a flower to exist—it lived in every person who had learned to give and receive it.

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Authentic Specimen