English
aster, fleabane (2 different Arapaho plants, with exact identity of both uncertain)
Scientific Name
#1. Asteraceae Family, #2. possibly Erigeron spp
Arapaho
#1. siisiiyeinoxu’; #2. biihceihino’?Translation of Arapaho
#1. ‘snake medicine’; #2. ‘pink ones?’
Aster and the Arapaho
1. Drug: snakebite remedy. Alfred Kroeber says that the root of the plant by this name was mixed with snake scales and “the red southern berry” [Skunkbrush/Three-leaved Sumac] and was used to cure rattlesnake bites. Cheyenne also has a "snakeweed" plant, and also a rattlesnake medicine, which is Ratibida spp/coneflower.
2. Alfred Kroeber identifies the plant of the second name above only as “a yellow composita [i.e. in the Aster family] ” and says it was used in incense mixtures in connection with a ceremony for the sacred medicine bags. If the element ‘pink’ is indeed present in the above word, then reference should be made to the Cheyenne ‘pink medicine’ which is Erigeron peregrinus - a flower in the Aster family with yellow disks and white or pink rays, with the rays tending to turn more pink with age. This identification is only speculative at the moment, however.
Porter's Aster (Aster porteri). This member of the Aster family is shown for the sake of general illustration only; it is not likely to be the exact Arapaho plant(s) referred to above.