SPECIES: Achillea millefolium
Western yarrow contains volatile oils, alkaloids, and glycosides but is not generally considered a toxic plant because it is so seldom consumed by livestock. Milk from cows consuming western yarrow has a "disagreeable" flavor [64].
PALATABILITY:CO MT ND UT WY Cattle poor poor poor poor poor Domestic sheep fair fair fair good fair Horses poor poor poor poor poor Pronghorn ---- poor fair fair fair Elk ---- poor ---- fair fair Mule deer ---- poor fair fair fair White-tailed deer ---- poor poor ---- fair Small mammals ---- poor ---- fair fair Small nongame birds ---- poor ---- fair poor Upland game birds ---- poor ---- fair good Waterfowl ---- ---- ---- poor poorNUTRITIONAL VALUE:
June July Aug crude fiber 22(2.0) 24(1.8) 25(1.2) crude protein 20(1.6) 17(0.3) 14(0.9) moisture 78(5) 64(2) 58(3) CA:P 2.7:1 4.5:1 5.1:1COVER VALUE:
Western yarrow is used for summer and winter bouquets. When cut fresh and kept in water, western yarrow flavors the air with an aromatic spiciness [43,64].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:McLean [49] reported that in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest zone in British Columbia, the fibrous roots and rhizomes of yarrow grew mostly in the duff layer or between it and the mineral soil.
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:The fruit is a small achenes weighing about 0.17 mg. They are produced in large numbers. Several thousand achenes may be produced per flowering stem. The viability of freshly shed seeds exceeds 90%. Western yarrow seed showed 41% germination after 9 years in dry storage [15].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:State Earliest Most Frequent Latest Month Month Month --------------------------------------------------- CO May May Jun ID Apr May Jun MT May May Jun UT Apr May Jun WY May Jun Aug
Average dates of different growth stages at different elevations in Utah were recorded as follows [22]:
Elev. Flower buds Flowers Seeds Seeds Plant (ft) evident in bloom ripe disseminated dried --------------------------------------------------------------- 7,150 May 30 Jun 29 Sept 28 Sept 19 Oct 10 7,655 Jun 01 Jul 05 Aug 26 Sept 24 Oct 13 8,450 Jun 06 Jul 10 Sept 04 --- Sept 25 9,000 Jun 18 Jul 15 Sept 08 Sept 29 Oct 01 10,100 Jun 25 Jul 21 Sept 20 Oct 08 Oct 08
Average heights (cm) of plants at various dates and altitudes from Ephraim Canyon in Utah were as follows (1925-1934) [22]:
Alt.(ft) May 1 May 15 Jun 1 Jun 15 Jul 1 Jul 15 ----------------------------------------------------- 7,150 4.9 9.1 16.2 26.2 30.8 33.9 7,655 3.9 8.0 12.9 20.0 28.4 31.1 8,450 1.4 4.6 7.7 15.8 24.2 29.3 9,000 -- 0.5 3.5 7.9 19.0 28.3 10,100 -- -- -- 5.1 11.1 19.9
Over a 10-year period in Saskatchewan, Canada, flowering dates were recorded for yarrow [18]:
Mean ------------First flowering date----------- Latest date flowering earliest date & yr latest date & yr mean in flower period ------------------ ---------------- ----- -------- ------ May 28/1946 Jun 30/1950 Jun 19 Sept 23 78 days
Western yarrow occurs in plant communities with a variety of fire regimes. The range of fire intervals reported for some species that dominate communities where western yarrow occurs are listed below. To learn more about the fire regimes in these communities, refer to the FEIS summary for that species, under "FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS."
Community dominant Range of fire interval (yr) interior ponderosa pine 20-42 (Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum) Rocky Mt. Douglas-fir 10-30 (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) quaking aspen 7-10 (Populus tremuloides) rough fescue 5-10 (Festuca altaica)POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Western yarrow is not highly flammable. Out of 14 species commonly found in boreal forests, western yarrow has the lowest potential ignitability based on chemical characteristics measured on live stem, live leaf and dead leaf tissues. These rankings rely primarily on total ash, silica-free ash and energy content [40]. Ignitability is measured as time to ignition.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:Western yarrow is responsive to season of burning. Late spring burning usually reduces western yarrow [4,12,66].
Response of vegetation to prescribed burning in a Jeffrey pine-California black oak woodland and a deergrass meadow at Cuyamaca State Park, California provides information on prescribed fire use and postfire response of many mixed-conifer woodland species including western yarrow.
. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:A burn was conducted each April for at least 24 years on a rough fescue (Festuca scabrella) grassland in a quaking aspen parkland in east-central Alberta. Average frequency and canopy cover for western yarrow were as follows [3]:
% Frequency % CoverDensity and crown area of western yarrow (per 180,000 in2)following an August wildfire of moderate severity in a northeastern California range dominated by bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) and various perennial bunchgrasses were as follows [23]:
Number of plants Crown area (in2)Productivity values (kg/ha) of western yarrow before and after a late August fire in western Wyoming quaking aspen communities are listed below for plots of different burn intensities [9]:
Before burning: 14 kg/haFor further information on prescribed fire use and western yarrow response to fire, see Fire Case Studies. The following Research Project Summaries provide information on prescribed fire use and postfire response of western yarrow and other plant community species:
postfire % Cover (+/- S.D.) % Frequency (+/- S.D.) year burned unburned burned unburned -------- ------------------ ---------------------- 1 2 (2) 2 (2) 5 (4) 5 (2) 3 12 (12) 4 (5) 11 (5) 6 (12)Western yarrow plants on the burned sites grew to only 55% of the average height of plants on unburned sites in the 1st postfire year, but by the 2nd growing season were 51% taller than those on unburned sites. By the 3rd postfire year, heights on both sites were comparable.
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