Common boneset
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Eupatorium perfoliatum L.
Common name(s): common boneset, boneset, boneset thoroughwort
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- mid-June
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- mid-July
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- inflorescence, early flowering mid-July
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- leaves are “fused” around stem
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- inflorescence, August
Description:
– perennial
-native
-height
- 2-4 feet tall
-hairs on the central stem
-opposite leaves
-fibrous roots
-spreads with rhizomes
– observed flowering in July-August and fruiting in October in ME
Habitat:
-moist organic soil
-full to partial sun
-wetlands
Agriculture:
-nectar attracts pollinators
-Seeds ripen about a month after flowering
-propogation by:
- division
- two-node softwood tip cuttings taken in late spring
-not commonly grazed by livestock
-leaves are favored by:
- grasshoppers
- flea beetles
- saw flies
Natural History:
-medical uses include:
- treating dengue fever
- immune system stimulant
- diaphoretic
- laxative in large does
Source(s):
USDA. “COMMON BONESETEupatorium Perfoliatum L.” Plant Fact Sheet, National Plant Materials Center, Beltsville, MD , Nov. 2008, www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/mdpmcfs8332.pdf.
Taken from an article, no longer available online, from Native Haunts