Category: Herbaceous plant

White Snakeroot

White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), is an herbaceous perennial that blooms from early autumn until frost. Native to the eastern United States and Canada. Its flowers are an important source of food at the end of the season for bees, moths, flies, and butterflies.

White Snakeroot plants grow to be 2 to 4 feet tall. They prefer shade to partial shade.

Like many plants that grow around us, this is a plant that is poisonous, containing tremetol. If you don’t know the plants in your gardens and in the woods around you, really really well, don’t eat them.

Purple Deadnettle Revisited

If you haven’t noticed it yet, take up an image, keep it in mind, watch for it. It’s out there. Even now.

Purple Deadnettle (Hamamelis virginiana) is a member of the mint family. Its square stem is a sure sign of that heritage. It’s an herbaceous plant not native to North America but to Europe and Asia. It is certainly invasive but can easily be pulled thanks to shallow roots.

Being an annual winter weed, Purple Deadnettle quickly takes over farmer’s fields turning them into colorful and, to my eye, beautiful fields. And why the name, Deadnettle? That name is in reference to the resemblance of the leaves to leaves in the Nettle family and their stinging hairs. However Purple Deadnettle leaves do not have stinging hairs. They are safe, or “dead,” and not a problem to touch.