Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium
During the summer wetlands are a great place to find colorful flowers, which is where I found this whimsical Joe-Pye weed. (Mother Nature must have been inspired by Dr. Suess.) This collection of bursting purple flowers was accompanying jewelweeds and cardinal flowers near a roadside culvert. Unfortunately when I photographed this flower I did not take note of the plant's details (stem color, leaf pattern, etc.) to determine its species.
Joe-Pye weeds are native to many states in North America and have undergone recent reclassification. Other names for the plant are trumpet weed and sometimes thoroughwort. The legend is that Joe-Pye was a Mohegan Indian healer from western Massachusetts who used this plant (E. purpureum) to treat typhoid fever. However, this folk medicine has not been verified by modern science.
Purple floweres of Joe-Pye weed
