# Aster (Aster amellus)

**Aster attico**

**Known today as.** *Aster amellus*.

Kind: Plant

## What did Canale use it for?

In the first fumigation, with rue, sulfur, and asafoetida (ch. 8).

## What does modern science say?

Aromatic smoke only.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **astersaponins**: triterpenoid saponins
- **quercetin glycosides**: 
- **caffeoylquinic acids**: 

**Mechanism.** The Attic aster, *Aster amellus*, burned in a fumigation gives smoke, not a drug; the Chinese *A. tataricus* root, with its saponins and shionone, is a recognised expectorant in that pharmacopoeia.

**Dose.** No toxicity recorded.

**Standing.** Nothing in European medicine; *Aster tataricus* is in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for cough.

## What lore surrounds it?

The name of the flower, like that of Astraea, derives from the Greek astēr, “star.” Astraea, the star-maiden of justice, abandoned a corrupted humanity and became the constellation Virgo. The often-repeated story that the aster sprang from her tears has no source in her myth and appears to be a modern invention of floral folklore.

## Sources

- “Astraea” (reference article).
- Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission (2020). *Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China*, “Asteris Radix.”

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*Aster.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/aster

Historical description, not medical advice.