plains daisy close up

Plains Daisy – Plant

LATIN NAME
Erigeron modestus

LONGEVITY
Annual

SEASON
Cool

ORIGIN
Native

DETAILS:

  • Also known as, “Plains fleabane”.
  • Flowers March to July.
  • This short-lived, low, hairy perennial is adapted to dry gravelly or rocky calcareous soils in open areas, on hillsides or slopes, in brushlands or cedar woodlands.
  • Ancient Europeans believed that the odor of this genus repelled fleas, thus the name fleabane. This seems to have no basis.
  • The Lakota Indians used the ray type flowers to mix with buffalo brains, spleen and gall bladder, then rubbed the mixture on the buffalo hides to bleach them.
  • Fair browse value to deer and antelope, poor value to livestock.

QUALITY TRAITS