40 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



thought to be baneful to these small disturbers of the 

 peace. Conyza is from the Greek word for dust or powder, 

 and points again to its anti-pulicitic powers when strewn 

 or dusted about. Aster signifies a star, and bears evident 

 reference to its stellate flower-heads. 



The specific title testifies to an old belief in its remedial 

 efficacy, though this appears to have no well-founded claim. 

 Linnaeus, who bestowed the name, mentions, in his " Flora 

 Sueccia," that he had been informed by a General Keit 

 that the Russians in one of their expeditions against Persia 

 were cured of dysentery by means of this plant. Two of 

 our English plants bear the name of fleabane, but the 

 second is ordinarily, for the sake of distinction, called the 

 blue fleabane. It is the Erigeron acris of .the botanist, and 

 belongs to the same order as the subject of our present 

 illustration : its flowerheads have a yellow centre, and 

 are surrounded by purplish rays. 



