#agueweed

From top: The view east from the Allegheny Front along the South Prong Trail (Roaring Plains); one of the many sphagnum bogs on the plateau, home to tawny cottongrass (Eriophorum virginicum) and large cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon); minniebush (Menziesia pilosa), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), and American beech (Fagus grandifoli) in their gorgeous fall colors; running clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum) with strobili containing spores; common blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium); Applachian ladies' tresses (Spiranthes arcisepala), a member of S. cernua complex with a distinctly bell-shaped flower and rounded labellum; stiff gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia), also known as agueweed, which along with Spiranthes is one of the last wildflowers to bloom during the Applachian autumn; a beaver pond complex in Canaan Valley, adorned with colorful watershield (Brasenia schreberi); milkweed seedpods bursting and offering up a new generation to the wind; and a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), newly emerged from its chrysalis, takes a sip of nectar from a wrinkleleaf goldenrod (Solidago rugosa), also known as rough-stemmed goldenrod.

One of the Appalachia’s last wildflowers to bloom in the fall, stiff gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia) is easily identified by its tightly-held clusters of purple, tubular flowers, whose five sepals form distinctive points before closing at their tips. This lovely biennial herb gets its name from the bunched, upright structure of its flowers, which grow in terminal clusters from the ends of a purplish, central stem and branching leaf axils. Stiff gentian’s leaves are opposite, ovate, and smooth along the edges; they clasp the plant’s stems where they meet. Also known as agueweed, the plant has a long history of medical use; a tea or infusion made of the root was once used as a bitter tonic to improve digestion and treat fever accompanied by joint pains. Stiff gentian prefers well-drained, upland habitat in full sun to partial shade, but will tolerate mesic conditions around stream banks and bog margins. It reproduces by seed only. The above photos were taken in the bog complex surrounding Spruce Knob Lake, where I also found closed bottle gentian (Gentiana clausa).

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) - #wildflowerwednesday - This North American native goes by several other names, including #agueweed, #feverwort, and #sweatingplant, and has a long medicinal #history. In fact, #boneset gets its primary name because it was one used to treat dengue, or “breakbone,” fever. While the #plant is still sometimes grown and foraged for its healing properties, it’s most often used by #gardeners for its #ornamental features to attract #pollinators. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoMPEYmgrKa/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mf6ot9w8o1r8

(from Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham)