COMMON NAMES. Indian Posy, Sweet-scented Life Everlasting, White Balsam, etc.
    MEDICINAL PART. The herb.
    Description. -- This indigenous herbaceous annual has an erect, whitish, woolly, and much branched stem, one or two feet high. The leaves are alternate; sessile, lanceolate, acute, and entire; flowers tubular and yellow.
    History. -- Old Field Balsam is found in Canada and various parts of the United States, growing in old fields and on dry barren lands, flowering in July and August. The leaves have a pleasant, aromatic smell, and are the parts used. They readily yield their properties to water.
    Properties and Uses. -- It is an astringent. Ulcerations of the mouth and throat are relieved by chewing the leaves and blossoms. In fevers a warm infusion is found to be very serviceable; also in quinsy, and pulmonary and tronchial complaints. It is also valuable, in infusion, for diseases of the bowels and hemorrhages; and the leaves, applied to bruises, indolent tumors, and other local affections, are very efficacious.
    ANTEMARIA MARGARITACEA, or Pearl-flowered Life Everlasting, a perennial, possesses similar medicinal qualities.