White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)

English and Scientific Name:  White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)

Kingdom: Plantae

(Unranked): Angiosperms

(Unranked): Eudicots

Observation: The white on this flower is very bright.  The green leaf is also a very bright green.  I also viewed this at the wildlife refuge.  Usually when I see a white flower it has been from a flower shop and manicured in some fashion but this was not which was fascinating to me. 

Questions:

1.      Where does the white snakeroot reside?

2.      Why do they call it the white snakeroot?

3.      Is it poisonous?

Scientific Research:

Sackett, Walter. The Connection of Milksickness with the Poisonous Qualities of White Snake-Root (Eupatorium urticaefolium). The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Mar., 1919), pp. 231-259. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30082048

Is it poisonous?

The white snakeroot has been associated with a disease of cattle, sheep and horses, variously designated as “milksickness”, “milk sick”, “staggers”, “trembles” and “slows”.  Later opinion has tended to confirm this view (Sackett, 1919).

Websites:
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/wh_snakeroot.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Snakeroot
http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=1040
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=AGALA