TALL JOE-PYE WEED
File Size: 111 KB
 
Eupatorium altissimum  L.
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 3-6 feet
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
Flowering Period:   August, September,October
Also Called: Tall boneset.
Stems: Erect, slender, 1 to several, much-branched, soft-hairy above, nearly glabrous below.
Leaves: Opposite, numerous, simple, short-stalked to sessile, narrowly lanceolate, 2 to 5 inches long, 1/2 to 1 inch wide, gray-green, densely soft-hairy, glandular-dotted, 3-veined beneath; margins toothed, particularly above middle; tips sharply pointed.
Inflorescences: Panicle-like clusters, broad, many-flowered, terminal.
Flowers: Heads cylindric, about 1/4 inch tall; bracts lanceolate, overlapping, tips rounded or blunt; ray florets absent; disk florets 5, corollas white.
Fruits: Achenes, small, angled, blackish, tipped with whitish bristles, enclosing small seed.
Habitat: Dry, open areas, old fields, open woodlands, thickets, roadsides, and disturbed sites.
Distribution: East 1/2 of Kansas.
Comments: According to New England tradition, Joe Pye was a Native American who treated spotted fever with species of Eupatorium. Large stands of tall joe-pye weed often indicate overgrazing. It is the most frequently encountered Eupatorium in Kansas.
 Tall bonset has opposite leaves while false boneset Brickellia eupatorioides has alternate leaves. They are occasionally mistaken for one another.

Tall joe-pye weed
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Tall joe-pye weed flower heads
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Tall joe-pye weed achene bristles
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Tall joe-pye weed
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Tall joe-pye weed inflorescence
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Tall joe-pye weed
139 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Tall joe-pye weed
135 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas