From spring through summer, flat to rounded clusters with dozens of tiny white flowers crown the 1–3-foot tall stems. Soft, woolly hairs cover the aromatic, fern-like leaves that grow in a dense rosette around the base and along the stem. Yellow and red varieties occur, popular in gardens.

FLOWER: Spring through summer. Flat-topped to rounded clusters densely are packed with 20–35 tiny white to pink flower heads. The 1/4-inch (6 mm) wide ray flowers have 3–8 petal-like rays each with three notches. 

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades 1 1/4–14 inches (3.5–35 cm) long, covered with soft, woolly hairs, smaller towards top of plant; fern-like, divided 1–3 times, with a lance-shaped outline.

HABITAT: Gravelly, sandy loam soils, meadows, stream sides, grasslands, roadsides; pinyon-juniper, ponderosa, spruce–fir forests.

ELEVATION: 4,000–12,500 feet.

RANGE: Nationwide.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Numerous species in the Parsley Family, Apiaceae, have rounded clusters of white flowers, but they don’t have the combination of ray and disk flowers.

NM COUNTIES: Common, nearly statewide in NM mountains in mid- to high-elevation habitats.

NOTES: The flowers make a yellow dye and the aromatic leaves have traditional medicinal value, but can be toxic. With white, yellow, and pink garden varieties, drought-tolerant Yarrow is popular in xeriscape gardens.