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The wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) belongs to Asteraceae (the Aster family). It is a perennial herb that is native to the eastern and midwestern United States. This herb grows in disturbed areas as well as prairies, meadows, woodland edges, and hillsides, and up to 60-120 cm in height. The leaves are glandular, ovate to lanceolate and variable in size. They have serrated, toothed, or lobed edges. The woolly-looking, white flower heads, each with 5 tiny ray flowers, appear in broad, flat-topped, terminal corymbs from late spring to late summer. They have a pleasant but mild medicinal fragrance. The leaves of the plant contain tannins and the plant was used for medicinal and veterinary purposes by Native Americans.
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