Good looks don't carry dwarf Canadian horseweed, Conzya canadensis, but utility does. It is tall and spindly, with long, narrow leaves along its stem. It has a large flower head at the top, but the blooms are so tiny and spare that they barely register with the eye, even in great numbers.

But it is edible, maybe even good-tasting, depending on how it's prepared. Both Native Americans and early European settlers found it useful as a medicine. And in a pinch, if you need a fire and don't have matches, this stuff will do. But first, the botanical basics.

Dwarf Canadian horseweed is a Florida native, found in all but two of the Sunshine State's 67 counties. In fact, it's a native of most of North America. You won't find it in The Yukon. You won't find it in Nunavut, and it's an introduced plant in Alaska. But every other corner of the continent is home for this plant, including Mexico and Central America.

It became something of an accidental tourist not long after Europeans first made note of it. French explorers documented dwarf Canadian horseweed in 1640; by 1653, it was discovered growing in France, some seeds most likely having stowed away on ships carrying beaver pelts. It's now found in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and South America.

It can be tall for herbacious (not woody) plant, hitting five feet or more. It is a perennial and blooms mainly summer to fall. The flowers are white and yellow and resemble a daisy, only in extreme miniature.

Early European settlers to the New World used dwarf Canadian horseweed to make a tea used to treat dysentery.They also used the leaves in bedding as a flea repellant.