418 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



WHITE SNAKEROOT 



Eupatorium urticcefblium, Reichard 

 (Eupatdrium ageratoides, L. f.) 



Other English names: White Sanicle, Indian Sanicle, Nettle-leaved 



Sanicle, Deerwort Boneset. 

 Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom: July to October. 

 Seed-time: August to November. 

 Range: New Brunswick to Ontario and Nebraska, southward to 



Georgia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. 

 Habitat: Open woods, thickets along streams. 



This plant was long suspected of causing in grazing animals a 

 peculiar disease, called "Trembles" from the muscular tremors 

 always noted as a symptom ; in turn, if a person ate the milk or 

 the butter or the meat from an animal so affected, a disorder known 

 as "Milk Sickness" resulted, which was often fatal and is said to 

 have caused the death of the mother of Abraham Lincoln. But 

 in 1908, on a sudden outbreak of this disease in Illinois, the De- 

 partment of Poisonous Plant Investigations at Washington l was 

 asked to look into the matter, and the power for injury of White 

 Snakeroot was thoroughly tested on several species of animals ; 

 and finally, convinced of its harmlessness, the chemist experi- 

 mented on himself, with no bad effects. So the plant stands 

 acquitted. Still, some residents of affected localities say, "When 

 Snakeroot is cleaned out, so are Trembles and Milk Sickness," 

 which is certainly a good thing, and better plants take its place. 



Stem very slender, much branched, smooth or nearly so, one to 

 four feet tall. Leaves opposite, broadly ovate, pointed, large, 

 thin, smooth, coarsely and sharply toothed, three-nerved, with 

 long, slender petioles. Heads in large, compound, corymbose 

 clusters, snowy white, each about a quarter-inch broad, the florets 

 tubular, five-lobed ; the rather long-pointed lobes of the corollas 

 and elongated style branches give the flowers a soft, fringy ap- 

 pearance, somewhat like the garden Ageratum. 



Means of suppression the same as for Joe-Pye Weed. 



1 The Supposed Relationship of White Snakeroot to Milk Sickness or " Trem- 

 bles." 



Bull. No. 121, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



