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Wildflower Wednesday: Sneezeweed

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 sneezeweed in a mixed seed packet that I bought at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin a few years ago. It reseeds itself around my garden each year.
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Comments

  1. CarmenApril 22, 2015 at 1:23 PM

    We have some of those flowers in front of the house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersApril 22, 2015 at 2:01 PM

      Good for you! It's always best to use native plants when we can.

      Delete
  2. Donna@Gardens Eye ViewMay 28, 2015 at 5:38 AM

    Now that is a very unique flower....love how the native peoples used our native plants for so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMay 28, 2015 at 9:15 AM

      They were certainly experts at utilizing what was available to them.

      Delete

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