San Francisco Botanical Garden - Gardens

Eupatorium purpureum

"Joe-Pye Weed"

Look for Eupatorium purpureum along the south border of the lawn "allee" (alley) leading to the Zellerbach Garden of Perennials (Bed 58F).

Scientific Name	Eupatorium purpureum
Common Name	Joe-Pye Weed
Family	Asteraceae
Plant Type	Herbaceous Perennial
Environment	Moist soil in full sun to part shade. Grows to 10 feet. Best sited as a background plant.
Bloom	Dusty rose to purple flowers borne in panicles late summer - early autumn.
Uses	Blooms attract insects and provide food for birds. Also known as "gravel root" this plant has a long history of medicinal use, folk remedies - particularly for use in the treatment of kidney stones.
More Info	Features of Eupatorium purpureum Herbal Uses

Profile Contributor: Fred Bové

Stand with your back to the Zellerbach Garden of Perennials, look down the broad avenue of lawn in front of you and clumps of Joe-Pye weed are on your right, 10 feet tall, their rosy domes bowing in the breeze - a wildflower that in six months grows as tall as a small tree.

It blooms in late summer in meadows and at the edge of woodlands in eastern America, and throughout Mexico and central America, part of the huge genus, Eupatorium, that contains 1000 species including “Boneset” and “Snakeroot.” Joe-Pye weed's multi-panicles of rose pink disk flowers have a vanilla scent and attract bees and butterflies. The sturdy stem with its many whorls of leaves is flushed with purple at the nodes.

Joe-Pye weed's whimsical name, legend tells us, was that of an Indian witch doctor in colonial New England who supposedly cured Indians and Pilgrims alike from typhoid fever, nervous disorders, and kidney problems with tea made from its leaves.