The Nature of Things

Gail of clay and limestone hosts "Wildflower Wednesday" each month. I am happy to participate again this month. I'm featuring a wildflower with a somewhat unfortunate name. It is a name which refers to one of the traditional uses of the plant. The dried and powdered leaves and flower heads will cause sneezing if sniffed and they were formerly used in the treatment of colds and congestion. An infusion of the leaves was also reportedly used by some Native Americans as a laxative. So, altogether, a fairly useful plant. I don't use it for any of those purposes. This member of the aster family produces a plethora of pretty yellow ray flowers with dark brown disks. Moreover, the plants have an extremely long bloom period, beginning in April and lasting through much of the summer. I like them because they are pretty to look at. My plants have just begun to bloom but soon they will be covered in blossoms. Just like this plant that I photographed last summer. I got my start of...