Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus)

Annual or biannual forb between 8 and 30 inches tall with multiple stems and many small, white, daisy-like flower heads. Plains Indians prepared a tea from this plant to treat children’s toothaches. They also made a paste from fleabane blossoms mixed with the brains, spleen and gall of a bison or other animal which, when applied to the hide, acted as a bleach during the tanning process. Prairie settlers used bouquets of burning fleabane as a “fogger” to rid their sod houses of ticks, fleas, and other pests.