★★★★★
I experienced an injured dog on a hike, it had gotten into barbed wire & was bleeding profusely with the owners not knowing what to do I picked some wild, (of course), yarrow, (achillea millefolia), & applied it to the wound stopping the bleeding. Yarrow is easy to grow & is a very good friend/gift to have around. Identifying is easy & it has a pleasant distinctive odor. Pictures are available on the net. This would be my first choice in the field or at home as I once suffered a laceration which would have required sutures as so claimed my nurse friend. I picked my yarrow friend that I had grown in my yard & applied it with a dressing. The bleeding stopped & also the throbbing pain within minutes. I left it on overnight & when I removed the dressing the next morning. it looked as though it had been sutured! I have used plantain,(plantago), as a drawing agent for absesses & it is a good field remedy for poison oak or nettle sting as it is anti-inflamatory.It grows plentiful in most areas & easily identified, see net for pictures. There are 2-types, the large leaf & more narrow, lance-like, leaf. They grow tall stalks straight up from the leaves & the seed pods are at the tips which can be removed for planting in your garden. One pod can grow say 50 plants or more pending the size. Always remember to leave some for the outdoors so the population remains healthy & thank the creator for the gift when harvesting.
