The name is said to
be a corruption of athanasia, derived from two Greek words
meaning immortality. When some monks in reading Lucian came
across the passage where Jove, speaking of Ganymede to Mercury,
says, "Take him hence, and when he has tasted immortality let him
return to us," their literal minds inferred that this plant must
have been what Ganymede tasted, hence they named it athanasia! So
great credence having been given to its medicinal powers in
Europe, it is not strange the colonists felt they could not live
in the New World without tansy. Strong-scented pungent tufts
topped with bright yellow buttons - runaways from old gardens -
are a conspicuous feature along many a roadside leading to
colonial homesteads.
GOLDEN RAGWORT; GROUNDSEL; SQUAW-WEED
(Senecio aureus) Thistle family
Flower-heads - Golden yellow, about 3/4 in. across, borne on
slender peduncles in a loose, leafless cluster; rays 8 to 12
around minute disk florets. Stem: Slender, 1 to 2 1/2 ft. high,
solitary or tufted, from a strong-scented root.
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