I've always wondered who Joe Pye was and why he has a weed named after him. Now that he's blooming all around me I decided to look him up.
Joe Pye isn't a weed at all, he's a wildflower. A really big wildflower... sometimes 6 feet tall (like the one outside my window).
The book I was reading says Joe Pye is an imposing presence....but me, I prefer to think of him as a protecting presence.
Anyway, the botanical name is Eupatorium Maculatum ....there are several species but I think I have the spotted kind...FYI, maculatum means spotted ( my dad is a landscape architect so botanical names are important in my family....so important that my sisters and I all have botanical names, Jeneferus Fragrantissima, that's me Jenny, Amelea Umbellata, my sister Amy and Annis Margrypus, that's Annie, the baby)
Back to Joe Pye....he was an Indian in Massachusetts during pilgram times and, although some species are poisonous, he cured typhus fever with Eupatorium Maculatum...how about that?
Now we know.
We can all sleep better..... and, if need be, typhus free.
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