COMPOSITE 



medicinally. Possibly the "aesthetic dull magenta crim- 

 son" tone of the "soft bristly" flower-heads is responsible 

 for our admiration. Or it may be partly due to the good 

 proportions of the sturdy plant stem stout and tall, 

 leaves large and yet thin so that the whorls are not heavy. 



COMPOSITE COMPOSITE FAMILY 



Eupatorium verbencefolium, Michx. 



Dull white Rough Thoroughwort, 



Vervain Thoroughwort. 

 July-September 



Eupatorium: for derivation see perfoliatum. 

 Verbencefolium: Latin for "leaf of verbena." 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: damp ground. 



THE PLANT: erect, two feet or more tall; the stem slender, 

 branched at the top, with short, rough hairs. 



THE LEAVES: opposite or occasionally in threes, or the 

 upper alternate; ovate-oblong; two inches to four inches 

 long; usually obtuse or blunt-pointed at the apex; rounded 

 at the base; closely sessile or the lower short-petioled; 

 more or less round-toothed. 



THE FLOWER HEADS: small in unequal modified panicles; 

 involucre bell-shaped; its bracts oblong, or linear-lanceo- 

 late, acute, overlapping, in about three series, the outer 

 shorter, densely covered with short, soft hairs. 



THE FRUIT: achenes; pappus consists of bristles. 



The leaves of this Eupatorium are quite different from 

 the heavy, united leaves of the better known Thorough- 

 wort (the Eupatorium perfoliatum)', these are short in 

 comparison to the height of the plant. However, there is 

 no denying that the somewhat triangular whitish flower- 

 heads resemble, in their furziness, the Thoroughwort group. 



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