124 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



America, and not one in Europe ; named from Eupator, king 

 of Pontus, who first used an Asiatic species in medicine. 11 

 species are credited to this State, 6 of which are widely spread 

 over it ; the others are not very common, and have not much 

 interest. 



E. ovatum. Big. A new species ; a large and rough plant, 

 3-4 feet high ; in low grounds, at Sudbury. Big. 



E. perfoliatum. L. Thoroughwort. Boneset. A well- 

 known plant in fields, with opposite leaves growing together at 

 their base, or pierced by the stem, woolly. Its medicinal prop- 

 erties render it a valuable plant. Bigelow's " Medical Botany." 



E. purpureum, L. and E. verticillatum, L., often called Queen 

 of the Meadow, and Joe Pye Weed. Grow 3-5 feet high, 

 with whorled leaves, both bearing level-topped corymbs of purple 

 flowers, and on low grounds. The latter is the rougher plant, 

 less purple on its stem, and with its stem less frequently hollow. 

 A decoction of the roots is often used in the western part of the 

 State as a remedy for the painful disease, the gravel ; said to have 

 been recommended to the whites by an Indian of the name above. 



E. ageratoides. W. Rather elegant in its form, and delicate 

 in its white flowers, beautifully corymbed ; about hedges, and in 

 open woods, in rather moist grounds. Besides these, there are 

 the E. aromaticum, L., teucrifolium^ L., hyssopifolium, L., sessili- 

 folium, L., and maculatum^ L. 



MiKANIA. W. 17. 1. 



M. scandens. W. Climbing Thoroughwort. Named after 

 Professor Mikan, of Prague. Loudon. 



Stem smooth, twining, with glabrous and opposite leaves on 

 long petioles ; resembles the last genus ; in the middle and east- 

 ern part of the State ; wet places ; flowers in August. Big. 



CONYZA. L. 17. 2. 

 From the Greek, a gnat or Jiea, as it was thought to drive away 



