365 Urban Species. #263: White Snakeroot

[urbpan]

Photos by cottonmanifesto. Location: The sidewalk in front of my house, Brookline.

Urban species #263: White snakeroot Ageratina altissima (also often listed as Eupatorium rugosum)

Let's get it right out in the open: This plant killed Abe Lincoln's mom. White snakeroot contains a toxin that builds up in the milk of cows and other livestock that eat it. When the milk is consumed by the animal's baby, or by the mother of the Great Emancipator, a poison called trematol can have a deadly effect. In the early 1800's, thousands of human victims in North America died, due to "milk sickness," as it was called.

White snakeroot is native to eastern North America, and in my experience, is not especially common. When, about a decade ago, I first decided to identify all the weeds in my yard in Brighton, it was there; I've seen it only occasionally since, and haven't thought much of it until this past week, when it appeared along the sidewalk in front of my house. Perhaps its relative rarity is due to its preference for alkaline soils--the soil in eastern cities tends to be acid. It is a flower of shady woodland edges, so the edges of hedge-shaded driveways and sidewalks may be similar enough habitat to invite its growth.

The peculiar name comes from related plants, reportedly used by Native Americans to treat rattlesnake bites. White snakeroot itself was used to treat diarrhea and other ailments--slightly toxic plants often lending themselves to medicinal uses.

Comments

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

Photos by [Unknown LJ tag]

[zadcat.livejournal.com]

Once it starts growing somewhere it tends to stick around, I find. Had some that showed up yearly in my old back yard in Montreal and saw this the other day in another yard:
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtlweblog/245037556/)

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

that's a beautiful picture! :)

[zadcat.livejournal.com]

thanks!

White Snake Root

[(Anonymous)]

Ya this may be a pretty plant but in 3 months it killed of 4 horses of mine and just about killed a 5th horse, if we would not have figured it out and pulled all of the grass hay out of the pens the other horses would have died also. In horses it is so bad that it causes them to loose there balance in there back legs and can nolonger stand. Then they develop neurological damage, so for are one that pulled through, he can never be rode again, because he has heart damage, and is depressed. All of the other horses were either humanly put down/ or died of a heart attack. for more info please email me oreoacres@yahoo.com Thanks

[(Anonymous)]

The plant in the picture is more likely (judging from its size) to be boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) rather than snake root (Eupatorium rugosum). Get a plant book on Prairie Plants and key it out. The flowers are slightly different. Both plants are native to Illinois and grow side-by-side in the same fields. I have never seen snake root higher than hip high.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Alas, the plant books I have refuse to teach me how to tell many of the various white-and-yellow, tiny-flowered asteroids apart. My Peterson's guide specifically says, "The small white asters are numerous, extremely variable, and may intergrade. Many can be recognized with certainty only by technical characters not given here."

Silly cop-out, but there you go. Professional (meaning, people who Really Know Their Asters, whether or not they make a living at it) help is probably required.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

This spring I did a bunch fo websearching for plants that (a) are native to my area, (b) relatively easy to grow, and (c) attract butterflies/hummingbirds. I then took the species names I found and re-googled for people who'd sell me the seeds.

It came to naught, in the end (nobody sells frelling native plants, especially not as bedding plants), but Eupatorium rugosum was one of them, so now I know what it looks like!

[artemii.livejournal.com]

here's a pretty good mail-order nursery for natives (specializing in eastern north american ones): http://www.toadshade.com/

the boneset i got from them as a wee plant ended up being five feet tall by three feet wide within a couple of growing seasons. you have to order by early summer, though, or they'll be sold out of almost everything.

Boneset IS NOT White Snakeroot

[(Anonymous)]

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) is an aster now in bloom here in Illinois; it is not toxic; one can brew a tea from it. White Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum) is also an aster (and consequently now in bloom here in Illinois). Superficially, to a city-dweller, they look similar, but they are two different plants. Boneset is the taller of the two.

Re: Boneset IS NOT White Snakeroot

[artemii.livejournal.com]

um, i have no idea why you thought i was saying the two were the same. i called it boneset because i meant boneset. if i had meant white snakeroot, i would have said that.

Re: Boneset IS NOT White Snakeroot

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I think that comment is meant as a response to almeda, as the scientific name she encountered in her websearch means boneset, and she implied that she thought it meant white snakeroot. It took me reading these comments several times to come to that conclusion.

Re: Boneset IS NOT White Snakeroot

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Now that I re-read the thread (and the scientific names) that doesn't seem to be it at all. Oh well.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

Let's get it right out in the open: This plant killed Abe Lincoln's mom

have i told you lately how much i love you?!

[artemii.livejournal.com]

that's why it prefers to be near concrete; over time, the lime in concrete leaches into the soil, making the soil around it more alkaline.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

That sounds good! Thanks.

Ageratina altissima a weed?

[(Anonymous)]

I am surprised that you would call it a weed. It is native to the American Midwest. It is used in prairie restoration projects in Illinois.

Re: Ageratina altissima a weed?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Every plant is native to somewhere. The fact that it grows in a sidewalk edge, without anyone having planted it, makes it a weed to me. The fact that it grows in pastures, and makes milk poisonous, makes it a week if you're a dairy farmer. It's all context (and some natural history). Is it helpful to know that I don't consider the word "weed" to be disparaging?

Re: Ageratina altissima a weed?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Obviously the work "week" should be "weed," in the above comments.

When I first decided to identify all the plants in my yard in Brighton Mass, about a decade ago, I discovered only two native plants in the jungle that had once been a manicured garden: Poke, and white snakeroot. All the other weeds were introduced (and many were invasive) but all were weeds.

White Snakeroot (Boneset) ?

[(Anonymous)]

Jef-you may remember a few weeks ago I was telling you about a weed (?) in my yard that I couldn't identify that was about ready to bloom. I probably did a poor job of describing it but told you I would take a photo when it was in bloom for you to identify. I was pleasantly surprised when It showed up in your live journal before I had a chance to get the photo. It is white snakeroot (or boneset)? It gets about 4-5 feet tall and spreads throughout the yard like wildfire so don't know if that helps to determine which it is-Dave

Re: White Snakeroot (Boneset) ?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Glad to help, Dave!

The easiest way to tell the two plants apart is by the leaves. boneset's leaves are distinctive http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/eupatoriumperf.html (look at the last picture--the leaf pair is like one long leaf with the stem in the middle).