White Snakeroot, Ageratina altissima (L.), Eupatorium rugosum, Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

This plant has 12 to 25 small white flowers in each of the broad branching clusters at the top of a leafy stem that grows 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves are egg shaped with a long tip, rounded base, opposite, coarsely toothed and on a long stalk (over 3/4"). The plant normally grows in partial shade. It will easily self-seed along the edges of a woodland. Toxic - see below. The scientific name for the plant has been recently revised with the plant moved into the genus Ageratina. The old species name, rugosum, means "rough" and the older genus, Eupatorium, was named after the Persian general Mithridates Eupator who is said to have used plants as a medicine and in his personal quest to become insensitive to poisons. By ingesting a slight amount of plant poisons each day along with various antidotes, Mithridates was able to build an immunity to many poisons, such that when he wished to commit suicide, poison would no longer work and he had to have his servant slay him by the sword. Mithridates died in 63 B.C. Long a friend of Rome, they moved apart and he was finally defeated in his own kingdom of Pontus in Asia Minor by Pompey, which battle earned Pompey the title “Pompey the Great.”

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	White Snakeroot	Ageratina altissima (L.) [Old name = Eupatorium rugosum]	Aster (Composite)	Woodland and Upland	Late Summer to Early Autumn
Other names and notes	This plant has 12 to 25 small white flowers in each of the broad branching clusters at the top of a leafy stem that grows 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves are egg shaped with a long tip, rounded base, opposite, coarsely toothed and on a long stalk (over 3/4"). The plant normally grows in partial shade. It will easily self-seed along the edges of a woodland. Toxic - see below. The scientific name for the plant has been recently revised with the plant moved into the genus Ageratina. The old species name, rugosum, means "rough" and the older genus, Eupatorium, was named after the Persian general Mithridates Eupator who is said to have used plants as a medicine and in his personal quest to become insensitive to poisons. By ingesting a slight amount of plant poisons each day along with various antidotes, Mithridates was able to build an immunity to many poisons, such that when he wished to commit suicide, poison would no longer work and he had to have his servant slay him by the sword. Mithridates died in 63 B.C. Long a friend of Rome, they moved apart and he was finally defeated in his own kingdom of Pontus in Asia Minor by Pompey, which battle earned Pompey the title “Pompey the Great.”