COMPOSITE FAMILY 



COMPOSITAE 



COMMON BONESET 



Eupatorium perfoliatum L. 



This is still another species often mistaken for White Snake- 

 root, page 341, although it is really very different. It is a very 

 common plant in wet places from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and 



south to Florida and 

 Texas. It was for- 

 merly a common 

 pactice among coun- 

 try folk to steep the 

 leaves of this plant 

 to make "Boneset 

 tea," which was used 

 as a spring tonic and 

 for various ailments. 

 The stem is stoiit 

 and very hair>', 

 growing 2-5 feet tall 

 and branching near 

 the top. The leaves 

 are opposite or very 

 rarely in threes, and 

 their bases are grown 

 together around the 

 stem. This character 

 alone is sufficient to 

 distinguish the plant from White Snakeroot. Further, they are 

 rather rough and hairy on the lower surface, usually more or less 

 wrinkled and very veiny. 



The numerous heads are rather crowded in the large com- 

 pound flat-topped inflorescence. Ten to 16 tubular and whitish 

 or bluish flowers bloom in each head from July to September. The 

 involucre is bell shaped and its lanceolate bracts are hairy. They 

 are arranged in 2 or 3 series, the outer shorter. The akenes are 

 5-angled and the pappus is a single row of slender bristles. 



Grandmother's gathering boneset today; 

 In the garret she'll dry and hang it away. 

 Next winter I'll "need" some boneset tea — 

 I wish she wouldn't think always of me ! 

 Grandmother's Gathering Boneset — Edith M. Thomas 



340 



