Fleabane is a group of plants that people once thought could kill fleas. Lotions used to drive away insects may still contain fleabane oil. Fleabanes are found throughout the world. There are hundreds of species (kinds).
The daisy fleabane, an annual, is cultivated in North America. Its white, daisylike flowers tend to grow in clusters. Long, pointed leaves grow along the stem, which can reach a height of 5 feet (1.5 meters). The bright orange flowers of the double orange daisy usually stand alone. The double orange daisy is a perennial (plant that lives for more than one growing season). This plant may grow 10 inches (25 centimeters) high. Most fleabanes bloom in spring or early summer.
Some species of fleabane have been used medicinally. People gathered the plant while it was in flower and then dried it. Druggists sold it as erigeron, a drug used to stop the flow of blood and to treat diarrhea and dropsy, an old term for swelling caused by excess fluid in the tissues.
