Achillea millefolium, SE: Röllika, DE: Wiesen-Schafgarbe,
NL: Gewoon duizendblad, UK: Yarrow

Scientific name:		Achillea millefolium L.
Swedish name:		Röllika
German name:		Wiesen-Schafgarbe
Nederlandse naam:		Gewoon duizendblad
English name:		Yarrow, Soldier's Woundwort, Thousand-leaf
Hebrew name:		אכילאה אלף העלים‮‬
Family:		Asteraceae / Compositae, Sunflower family, Korgblommiga

Life form:		Annual
Stems:		Height 20-70 cm, erect flower-bearing stems
Leaves:		5-20 cm long, bipinnate or tripinnate
Flowers:		White to pink
Flowering Period:		June-October
Fruits:		Smooth cypsela (dry single-seeded fruit) without a pappus
Habitat:		Coast, pastureland, meadows, farmland, settlements
Distribution:		Throughout the country

Derivation of the botanical name: Achillea, αχιλλειοϛ (Greek), of Achilles, Greek hero of the Trojan wars; Achillea said to be discovered of medicinal value by Achilles, millefolium (Lat.) = thousand-leaved, a reference to the finely divided leaves. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. Pliny the Elder (23-79CE), Natural History, book XXV:XIX: "Achilles too, the pupil of Chiron, discovered a plant to heal wounds, which is therefore called achilleos, and by it is said to have cured Telephus... This plant is also called by some Heraclean panaces, by others siderites, and by us millefolia; the stalk is a cubit high, and the plant branchy, covered from the bottom with leaves smaller than those of fennel". In classical times, it was known as herba militaris (Military Herb) because it was used to staunch war wounds. The salicylic acid in Achillea millefolium has proved to be a good mosquito repellant. Achillea millefolium attracts hoverflies (Syrphidae), ladybugs (Coccinellidae), damsel bugs (Nabidae) and parasitic mini-wasps. "frozen leaves"