06/07/2016
Aster ( Lessingia filaginifolia) is a perennial California native, a fast growing plant that provides quick cover.
Seeds are used in habitat restoration and erosion control within a variety of lowland, shrub land habitats, including coastal sage scrub. Butterflies, moths, flies, and bees forage on the Aster flowers in the late summer months and into the early fall when food resources are low. The plant tolerates salt, is drought tolerant, and a candidate for dry-land farming, or farming with minimal supplemental water.
About its distant relative the purple sticky aster (Dieteria Bigelovii):
There seems to have been a universal reliance by Native American tribes on burning the aster flowers and leaves, the smoke being used in Inipi (sweat lodge) Ceremonies, to revive the unconscious, to treat mental illness, nosebleeds, headaches, congestion, and for smudging.
Aster tea was used to treat earache, relieve gas pains, stomach aches, and fevers. The flowers and roots were both commonly used. Leaves and stems used to treat colds. Aster flower may be harvested in late summer beginning of fall. The flower tincture is an excellent lung antispasmodic. Chewing on fresh blossoms relaxes and tones an overworked nervous system.
