Achillea vermicularis

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Achillea vermicularis is a perennial yarrow in the daisy family, Asteraceae, native to Türkiye, the southern Caucasus, Iraq and Iran. Kew accepts the species under the name published by Trinius in 1818. It lists Achillea vermiculata DC. as an orthographic variant: a different spelling of the name, rather than a separate species.

Appearance

The Turkish botanical account describes plants about twenty to sixty centimetres tall, with narrow, divided leaves bearing dense, short hairs. The small lobes of the leaves may overlap closely, giving the foliage a compact appearance.

The flower heads form clusters roughly two to eight centimetres across. Each head has several golden-yellow outer ray flowers around numerous tubular disc flowers. The bracts beneath the head have thin, papery margins, sometimes tinged brown.

Habitat

In the Turkish account, the species occurs in steppe, on rocky slopes and loose scree, and in alpine meadows at approximately 1,200–3,500 metres elevation. Flowering is recorded from June to September. These regional observations should not be read as exact limits throughout its wider range.

Chemical variation

A 2024 experiment included A. vermicularis among three yarrow species grown from Iranian seed collections at a University of Tehran research farm. Plants were raised together and sampled at the start of flowering. The researchers found differences in essential-oil yield among accessions and between the two growing years.

The results concern the sampled plants under the study conditions. Laboratory measurements of their chemistry do not establish a treatment benefit in people.