Family: Aster (Asteraceae)

Annual, 100 days to harvest of leaf and flower, 160 days to seed.

(Sweet Annie, Qing-hao) Native to China, growing in the wild, at the edges of civilization and in waste places. Plant prefers full sun, requires little moisture, and tolerates a wide range of soils, growing quickly to 7 feet, flowering in dangling yellow balls. Traditional usage (WHO): Antimalarial, cancer therapy, widely used to keep virus from replicating. Source of artemisinin. Light dependent germinator. Sow on surface of sandy soil and keep moist until germination, which takes a week or two. Under lights, I get a good response after exactly 9 days. Very tiny seedlings grow rapidly and transplant well.