Achillea millefolium L., Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 19 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Achillea lanulosa Nutt.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bloodwort, carpenter's weed, common yarrow, milfoil, western yarrow, yarrow

French: achillée mille-feuille, mille-feuille

Spanish: hierba de las cortaduras, milefólio, plumajillo

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Rhizomatous perennial herbs 2-5 (-10) dm tall.  Leaves lanceolate to linear, blades 3-15 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm wide, only the lowermost petiolate.  Involucre 3.5-5 mm high, 2-4 mm in diameter; ray florets usually 3-5 per head, rays white to pink, 2-3 mm long; disk florets 10-20 per head"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 252).

"Perennials, 6-65+ cm (usually rhizomatous, sometimes stoloniferous). Stems 1(-4), erect, simple or branched, densely lanate-tomentose to glabrate. Leaves petiolate (proximally) or sessile (distally, weakly clasping and gradually reduced); blades oblong or lanceolate, 3.5-35+ cm x 5-35 mm, 1-2-pinnately lobed (ultimate lobes ± lanceolate, often arrayed in multiple planes), faces glabrate to sparsely tomentose or densely lanate. Heads 10-100+, in simple or compound, corymbiform arrays. Phyllaries 20-30 in ± 3 series, (light green, midribs dark green to yellowish, margins green to light or dark brown) ovate to lanceolate, abaxial faces tomentose. Receptacles convex; paleae lanceolate, 1.5-4 mm. Ray florets (3-) 5-8, pistillate, fertile; corollas white or light pink to deep purple, laminae 1.5-3 x 1.5-3 mm. Disc florets 10-20; corollas white to grayish white, 2-4.5 mm. Cypselae 1-2 mm (margins broadly winged)"  (Flora of North America online).

Habitat/ecology:  "Pastures, meadows, roadsides, stream sides, woodlands, waste grounds, dry or sandy soils, also in damp, clayey, and salty soils; 0-3600 m"  (Flora of North America online).  In Hawai‘i, "Naturalized from 1,200 to 3,000 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 252).  In New Zealand, "mostly roadsides and waste places, also palustral and coastal sites, pasture, cultivated land, and lawns"  (Healy & Edgar, 1980; p. 156).

Propagation:  Seed, stolons.

Native range:  Circumboreal temperate regions (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 252).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 252) Voucher cited: Rock 10322 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1990) (voucher ID: BISH 588577) Taxon name on voucher: Achillea millefolium L.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1959) (voucher ID: BISH 73154) Taxon name on voucher: Achillea millefolium L.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 31) Vouchers cited: Baumann 16064, MacKee 41091
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 156)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Canada	Canada (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 189)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 156)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Fact Sheet from USDA-NRCS (PDF format).
Plant Guide from USDA-NRCS (PDF format).
Fact sheett from USDA Forest Service Fire Effects Information System (FEIS).

Additional online information about Achillea millefolium is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Achillea millefolium as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Achillea millefolium may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1959. Voucher specimen #BISH73154(U.Wild 13).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1990. Voucher specimen #BISH588577(G.W.Staples 666).

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.