Evaluation of Growth Characteristics, Essential Oil Percentage and Ecological Factors Some of in Different Species of Yarrow (Achillea spp.)

Achillea is an important medicinal plant with many properties and applications which has distributed in different geographical regions of Iran. In this study, the characteristics of growth, essential oil percentage and ecological factors of four different Yarrow species included (A. setacea), (A. biebersteinii), (A. tenuifolia) and (A. wilhelmsii) were evaluated in order to better understanding the characteristics of different Yarrow species. Plant sampling was done at flowering time and 13 morphological traits of the species with ecological characteristics were evaluated. The essential oil was extracted from dried plants by using Klevenger's apparatus for four hours. Analysis of variance showed that there was variation among studied species in terms of traits studied. The species of A. setacea was superior and difference in terms of height, main stem circumference, leaf length, leaf width; the species of A. wilhelmsii was superior in terms of stem number, inflorescent number, leaf number. According to the cluster analysis the species were divided into two distinct groups. Correlation between traits showed that there was a significant correlation between some morphological traits and morphological traits with soil. Essential oil yields varied from 0.52 to 0.82%. Based on these results, the species of (A. setacea) and (A. wilhelmsii) were better in terms of growth and yield characteristics; also (A. wilhelmsii) was better in essential oils yield. Introduced plants of this research can be used in pharmaceutical, food and perfume industries and introduced for breeding programs.