WHITE SNAKEROOT 

 Eupatorium rugosum Houtt. 



August - September Xiiiitv Linooln lay ill in the cartli-floorcd cabin 

 Dry woods in Kentucky, and no one know \vliat to do about 



i1. 'I'lic lean cow out in the woods pasture stood 

 about listlessly ami treinbled in spasms of shivering that shook hor bony 

 frame, Nancy Liiuolti died and iloubtloss the cow did. too, and in the 

 dry Scjitcmber woods the white snnkei'oot's lustv irreonerv continued to 

 grow in abundaiiee. 



Not until eeiupaiatively recently was it discovered that the scourge 

 of pioneer days, the dreaded milk sickness, and "trembles" in cows, was 

 caused by white snakeroot ])()is()n. 'I'he ])lant contains a violent toxic 

 ])oison which all'ects i-ows whieh eat it. .Human beings who diiuk the 

 milk of these cows are infected with milk sickness which even now often 

 results in death. Cows in woods pastures, where lierbage by late summer 

 is dry and sjiarse, are forced to eat the green leaves of snakeroot. 



There are many blupatoiiums, some of whieh are dillieult to identify, 

 others of which are simple. Boneset {Eupatorium perfoUotum) is a 

 stout, very hairy plant of the sunny uplands. The ])airs of rough. 

 haiiT. ttwthed l(>aves clasj) the stem or are entirely ])erfoliate (with tlie 

 stem ])iercing the joining leaves), 'flio Howers an^ fuzzy, grey-white, and 

 are held in brond heads at the top of the ])lant. Late Boneset {Etipa- 

 ioiium scrotinuni ) is snumth and grey-green, with pairs of narrow, 

 deeply toothed, grey-green leaves. The flowers are grey-white in clus- 

 ters at the tops of the stems. Blue mist-llower, often called ageratuin, 

 {Eupatorium coetc'^tinum) grows in woi^s. It is one to two feet tall, 

 smooth, with small, veiny green leaves, and heads of fuzzy lavender-blue 

 or sky-blue tloweis whieh are often used in gardens. 



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