FLEABANE

horseweed, Canadian fleabane, fleabane, Conyza canadensis, Erigeron canadensis

(noun) common North American weed with linear leaves and small discoid heads of yellowish flowers; widely naturalized throughout temperate regions; sometimes placed in genus Erigeron

fleabane

(noun) any of several North American plants of the genus Erigeron having daisylike flowers; formerly believed to repel fleas

fleabane, feabane mullet, Pulicaria dysenterica

(noun) hairy perennial Eurasian herb with yellow daisylike flowers reputed to destroy or drive away fleas

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

fleabane (plural fleabanes)

Any of various species of flowering plants, mostly in two subfamilies in Asteroideae, that typically repel insects

Astereae

Conyza (butterweeds or horseweed)

Erigeron, especially Erigeron acre (blue fleabane)

Inuleae

Inula (yellowheads)

Pluchea (camphorweeds)

Pulicaria (false fleabane), especially common fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica subsp. dysenterica, formerly Inula dysenterica)

In Cichorioideae, Vernonia (ironweeds).

Source: Wiktionary

Flea"bane`, n. (Bot.)

Definition: One of various plants, supposed to have efficacy in driving away fleas. They belong, for the most part, to the genera Conyza, Erigeron, and Pulicaria.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition