Astra
An American legend.
A young hunter from the Onaida Indian tribe fell in love with a girl, but she remained indifferent to him. Then he asked her, and if he knocks a star out of the sky, will she become his bride?
None of the young men of the tribe offered her such a gift. The beauty considered the hunter a braggart, but agreed. And when the Indians of other tribes heard about it, they began to laugh at the young man. But he did not give up and told the proud woman to come to the meadow in the evening.
When the stars lit up, all the young people from the tribe gathered to see how the hunter was going to fulfill his promise. The young man aimed his bowstring at the sky, and after a few moments a star shattered into many sparks in the night sky, struck by the mark arrow of the young hunter.
God was angry at a mere mortal who dared to knock down the stars from the sky. After all, if other lovers follow his example, then there will be no stars left in the sky at all, and the moon is unlikely to survive. He sent a terrible storm to the earth. A violent hurricane raged for three days and three nights.
When the storm subsided, no one could find the daredevil who knocked down a star from the sky. It turned into a small flower, which the Indians gave the name "shooting star".
The Volga legend.
Once upon a time there lived a khan and he had a beautiful daughter, Astra.
The girl loved to look at the stars at night, and the stars loved her. But the princess fell ill with an unknown disease, and no matter how hard they tried, they could not cure her. The Polar Star called her to her: "You have a kind soul, your place is with us."
The girl died, and immediately flowers of unprecedented heavenly beauty bloomed, ordinary people called them asters in honor of the beautiful princess. And the inconsolable khan built a beautiful city and named it Astrakhan in honor of his daughter.
A Greek legend.
Persephone is the wife of Hades, who ruled the underworld. He forcibly took her to wife, stealing her from Demeter's mother. The gods ordered the young wife to spend autumn and winter in her husband's abode, so year after year she sank underground with the arrival of cold weather.
And at the end of August, the unfortunate goddess noticed a young man and a girl in love, who were exchanging kisses. Persephone, deprived of love and soon forced to go to Hades, sobbed in despair. Her tears turned into stardust, falling to the ground and turned into wonderful asters.
It is not surprising that this plant has been associated with love among the Greeks since ancient times.