Annual Fleabane

One of the interesting things about this flower is its name. It was long thought that this flower protected people from, and drove away, fleas. Hence the name. In times past people stuffed mattresses with this flower and hung them from the beams of their cabins or cottages to chase away fleas..... but today it reveals no such power. It was not native to the East coast but came here from the Midwest Once it had been mostly forested here in the East, but as more and more people settled here, more and more land was cleared and so when the seeds of the Annual Fleabane made its way East on wagon wheels it found open fields which is just the landscape they were use to. The Fleabane looks much like an Aster.... the difference is that the Fleabane comes in the Spring and is an annual and the Aster comes in the Fall and is a perennial. They are generally white and yellow but sometimes they are pink/purple and yellow. Scientists are not sure why.... is it the minerals in the soil, genetics, or something else?

Where did I find it : In a field