An aster is a perennial plant which belongs to the family Asteraceae. It grows on Ulleungdo Island and inJapan. On Ulleungdo Island, it grows naturally in groups. Bujigaengi is a name used by the people ofUlleungdo Island for an Aster glehni F.Schmidt. It is either eaten straight from the wild or cultivated, and sold as a local specialty. It can be collected during all seasons as it even grows in the snow on UlleungdoIsland. It is very well known around the country for its delicious taste.
Aster was used as a famine food during poor harvests. The aerial part of an aster is called mountain chrysanthemum and is used as an anti-inflammatory agent and asthma suppressor.
Asters grow wild nationally. Heteropappus hisdipus Thunb. grows wild on the coast whilst Aster glehniF.Schmidt. grows wild in groups on Ulleungdo Island. The rhizome extends to the sides and has fine hairs.Its branches spread out at the top and its length varies from 50 to 150 centimeters. The flower blooms in white from July to September, before maturing in October. It blooms as a corymb at the top of the stem with the diameter of its cephalization varying from about 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters. Its scope varies from 5 to 20 mm and has brown hairs.
Aster grows in the snow from December to the beginning of March each year is gathered and shipped to cities such as Seoul. Its taste and aroma are incomparably outstanding and so it is sold at high prices.Its sprouts are eaten as greens, and when dried, all parts are used as a fever reducer and diuretic. The whole plant has come to be used for food, and is also used as a medicine for asthma, bronchitis, colds and to loosen phlegm.
Aster is a wild edible green which contains a large quantity of Vitamin A and C. It also contains proteins,fats sugar, fiber and calcium. The entire plant contains saponin with the root also containing prosapogenin. There are many species of asters all of which are edible, and can be cooked in various ways.It stimulates people’s appetite as it contains essential oils which have a distinctive scent not unlike that of acrown daisy.
There are around more than 260 species of the family Asteraceae in Korea, most of which area bred using methods of plant division such as plant and seed propagation. As some species are shorter and have different leaf patterns when compared to the standard variety, an efficient method when selecting an individual variety to use for propagation is to take care so as to retain physical features of plants with the higher horticultural value.
紫菀 ， 是多年草。也叫紫完、紫苑、紫菀、白苑。它在郁陵岛冬季的雪中也能生长，因此一年四季都可以采取，味道奇特，全国有名。韩文是“부지깽이 /Bujigaengi ”。
在园艺中，人们通常按照习惯，把分类变更之前及之后的植物都统称为“紫菀”]
多年生草本，亚灌木或灌木。茎直立。叶互生，有齿或全缘。头状花序作伞房状或圆锥伞房状排列，或单生，各有多数异形花，放射状，外围有1-2层雌花，中央有多数两性花，都结果实，少有无雌花而呈盘状。总苞半球状、钟状或倒锥状；总苞片2至多层，外层渐短，覆瓦状排列或近等长，草质或革质。花托蜂窝状，平或稍凸起。雌花花冠舌状，舌片狭长，白色、浅红色、紫色或蓝色，顶端有2-3个不明显的齿；两性花花冠管状，黄色或顶端紫褐色，通常有5等形的裂片。花药基部钝，通常全缘。花柱分枝附片披针形或三角形。冠毛宿存，白色或红褐色，有多数近等长的细糙毛，或另有一外层极短的毛或膜片。瘦果长圆形或倒卵圆形，扁或两面稍凸，有2边肋，通常被毛或有腺
(Source from : Aster (한국향토문화전자대전, 한국학중앙연구원) and Wikipedia )
