The plants typically have frilly leaves and are known colloquially as yarrows, although this common name usually refers to A. millefolium.

The flowers can be white, yellow, orange, pink or red and are generally visited by many insects, and are thus characterised by a generalised pollination system.

Sources differ widely as to which should be recognized as species, which merit subspecies or variety status, and which ones are merely synonyms of better-established names.

[10] The following cultivars are recipients of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: The genus was named after the Greek mythological character Achilles.

According to legend, Achilles' soldiers used yarrow to treat their wounds,[26] hence some of its common names such as allheal and bloodwort.