Blazing Star
Parts Usually Used
Root
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Scaly blazing star is a native North American perennial plant; it resembles the marsh blazing star but much smaller, has a tuberous root that produces the stem growing only as high as 2 feet and the leaves to 6 inches long. The alternate linear leaves are dotted, the lower of which are longer. The flower spike is also smaller, made up of blue-purple florets, appears from June to September.
Other varieties: Rough blazing-star (L. aspera); Marsh blazing star (L. spicata); Tall blazing star (L. ); A tiny plant called Blazing star (Mentzelia albicaulis) is also known to the Paiutes as the Gravy Plant, (called Ku-Ha).
Where Found
Found in dry, open woods, clearings, and fields from Ontario to Pennsylvania and Florida, and westward to South Dakota, Nebraska, and Texas.
Medicinal Properties
Diuretic
Legends, Myths and Stories
Star grass (Aletris farinosa) is sometimes called blazing star.
Uses
Historically, herbalists employed the plant as a gargle for sore throats and utilized it in folk traditions as an application for wounds, insect bites, and snakebites.
Bibliography
, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 Indian Uses of Native Plants , by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990