Achillea ptarmica is a species in the genus Achillea

Achillea

Achillea is a genus of about 85 flowering plants, in the family Asteraceae, commonly referred to as yarrow. They occur in Europe and temperate areas of Asia. A few grow in North America. These plants typically have frilly, hairy, aromatic leaves....

. It has loose clusters of white, button-like flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s that bloom from June to August. Its dark green leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 have finely toothed margins.

This is a hardy, drought-tolerant plant that prefers full sun and moist but well-drained soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

.

The name ptarmica comes from the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 word ptairo (=sneeze) and means 'causes sneezing'.

Like many other plants, the sneezewort's pattern of development displays the Fibonacci sequence

Fibonacci number

In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers are the numbers in the following integer sequence:0,\;1,\;1,\;2,\;3,\;5,\;8,\;13,\;21,\;34,\;55,\;89,\;144,\; \ldots\; ....

.

Uses

Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Leaves are Cardiac; Diaphoretic; Digestive; Emmenagogue; Odontalgic; Sternutatory; Styptic. The leaf is chewed to relieve toothache. The dried, powdered leaves are used as a sneezing powder. Yields an essential oil that is used medicinally. The leaves are used as an insect repellent.

The plant is poisonous to cattle, sheep, and horses. Symptoms are generally slow to develop, and include fever, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, weight loss, drooling, spasms and loss of muscular control, and convulsions.