Common names
Tansy, bitter buttons, common double tansy, English cost, ginger plant, golden button heal, parsley fern, scented fern.

Description
A perennial 2 to 3 feet in height, unbranched stems that grow in clumps. Pungent, fern-like foliage is a common characteristic. Leaves alternate, topped with flat heads of yellow, tubula-like flowers.

Flowering period
July to September

Habitat
Roadsides and borders of fields.

Harvest
Herb

Range
Asia and Europe

Habit
Perennial

Family
Aster

Uses Tansy tea was taken to calm cramps, but colonists also used tansy leaves as an insect repellant in their homes. Leaves were also rubbed on fresh meat to keep flies off.

The herb has been used as an anthelmentic, emmenagogue, and stomachic. The dried flower heads are frequently in flower arrangements.