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Asteraceae
Joe Pye Weed
Eutrochium purpureum
Healing, gentleness, restoration.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Eutrochium
- Native to
- Eastern and central North America
- Bloom season
- Late Summer, Early Fall
- Type
- herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 1.5–2.5 m
- Sunlight
- Full sun to partial shade
- Soil
- Moist, rich
- Water
- Regular and generous
- Hardiness
- 4–9
- Lifespan
- Perennial
Did you know
- Joe Pye Weed is named after Joseph Shauquethqueat, an 18th-century Mohican healer who reportedly used it to treat typhus fever among colonial settlers.
- Despite the 'weed' in its name, it's a stunning architectural plant — towering pink-purple flower heads can reach 2.5 m tall in a single season.
- It's one of the most important butterfly nectar plants in North America, especially for swallowtails, monarchs, and fritillaries.
- Native Americans used Joe Pye for treating kidney stones, fevers, and as a love charm — its other name is 'gravel root.'
- Once classified as Eupatorium, it was reclassified to its own genus Eutrochium in 2002 based on DNA studies.