General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: |
Herb/Forb
|
Life cycle: |
Perennial
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Sun Requirements: |
Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Partial or Dappled Shade
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Water Preferences: |
Mesic
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Minimum cold hardiness: |
Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
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Maximum recommended zone: |
Zone 8b
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Plant Height: |
24 - 60 inches |
Plant Spread: |
18 - 30 inches |
Leaves: |
Unusual foliage color
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Fruit: |
Edible to birds
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Flowers: |
Showy
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Flower Color: |
White
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Bloom Size: |
Under 1"
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Flower Time: |
Summer
Late summer or early fall
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Underground structures: |
Rhizome
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Uses: |
Water gardens
Will Naturalize
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Wildlife Attractant: |
Bees
Birds
Butterflies
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Resistances: |
Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
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Propagation: Seeds: |
Self fertile
Stratify seeds: 3 months at 40 degrees
Suitable for wintersowing
Can handle transplanting
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Propagation: Other methods: |
Cuttings: Tip
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Pollinators: |
Various insects
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- Common Boneset
- Boneset
- Thoroughwort
- Agueweed
- American Boneset
- Feverwort
- Indian Sage
- Chapman's Thoroughwort
- Accepted: Eupatorium perfoliatum
- Synonym: Eupatorium chapmanii
- Synonym: Eupatorium cuneatum
- Synonym: Eupatorium polyneuron
Posted by
ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Feb 16, 2018 9:08 PM concerning plant:
I am happy to say that this is a common wild perennial in wet soils near pond, lakes, watercourses, and swamps. It gets its name from an old belief that the leaves clasping around the stem would help heal the setting of bones. Its native range is from southern Manitoba to Nova Scotia and then southward deep down into the US. Its white flowers in late summer and early fall are loved by a large number of bees and other pollinators. Some are sold by a good number of native plant nurseries and it does make a nice, neat perennial that grows fine in average, mesic garden soil.
Posted by
mellielong (Lutz, Florida - Zone 9b) on Apr 17, 2015 10:56 PM concerning plant:
The book "How to Know the Wildflowers" (1922) by Mrs William Starr Dana gives the author's personal experience with this plant. She says it so well, I'm going to quote the passage in its entirety.
"To one whose childhood was passed in the country some fifty years ago the name or sight of this plant is fraught with unpleasant memories. The attic or wood-shed was hung with bunches of the dried herb, which served as many gruesome warnings against wet feet, or any over-exposure which might result in cold or malaria. A certain Nemesis, in the shape of a nauseous draught which was poured down the throat under the name of 'boneset tea', attended such a catastrophe. The Indians first discovered its virtues, and named the plant ague-weed. Possibly this is one of the few herbs whose efficacy has not been overrated. Dr. Millspaugh says, "It is prominently adapted to cure a disease peculiar to the South, known as break-bone fever (Dengue), and it is without doubt from this property that the name boneset was derived."
Posted by
jmorth (central Illinois) on Dec 9, 2011 7:18 PM concerning plant:
Preferred habitat in the Midwest include moist to wet ground, prairies, marshes, and along streams.
Native American Indians considered it a panacea for ills, aches, and pain.
Name Boneset came from early settlers who used it, not to set bones, but as a flu treatment. A flu that caused severe body aches was called 'breakbone fever'
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On June 3, 2023 |
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