Asteraceae : Ageratina altissima
The common name comes from Native American tribes using the roots to treat snake bites. The plants are toxic if eaten. The flowers attract butterflies, and the plants are tolerant of deer.
Description
Ageratina altissima is a perennial herb, arising from a fibrous. creeping rootstock, growing from 0.4 m to 1.5 m in height. The stems are variously purple spotted to uniformly purple. The leaves are simple, in whorls of 3-6, short-petioled, the blades lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, serrate. The inflorescence is a flattened cyme, and the flowers are in heads. The involucral bracts are imbricate obtuse and purplish. Flowers are white, light pink to purple and bloom from July to September. Fruits are achenes. White snakeroot is found in wet meadows, stream and pond margins, springs, and boggy places. This species is commonly found at low to mid elevations in the Black Hills.