Purple Joe-Pye weed facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Purple Joe-Pye weed |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Eutrochium purpureum, often called purple Joe-Pye weed, is a tall plant that comes back every year. It belongs to the sunflower family. You can find it growing naturally in eastern and central North America. This includes places like Ontario in Canada, and states in the USA from New Hampshire down to Florida, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. People sometimes call it gravel root or feverweed too.
Contents
What it Looks Like
Purple Joe-Pye weed grows in clumps and can get very tall, usually between 5 and 8 feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters). It can also spread out about 4 feet (1.2 meters) wide. These plants like sunny spots or places with some shade, and they prefer soil that is moist or even wet.
The plant has thick, round stems that are often purple. Its leaves grow in circles around the stem at different levels. Each leaf can be up to 12 inches (30 cm) long and has a slightly bumpy feel.
In the middle to late summer, the plant grows beautiful purplish flowers. These flowers form large, rounded clusters at the top of the stems. When the flowers bloom, the stems might even bend a little because of their weight. Many insects, like butterflies, moths, and bees, love to visit these flowers to drink their sweet nectar.
How it Grows and Spreads
This plant can sometimes mix its genes with other types of Eutrochium plants. This means that in areas where different types grow close together, the plants might look a bit different from each other. There are a few natural variations in how fuzzy the stems and leaves are, but generally, it's just one plant species that can look slightly different depending on where it grows.
Plant Life and Animals
Purple Joe-Pye weed is very important for many insects. Lots of different butterflies, moths, bees, and flies visit its flowers. They come to feed on the nectar.
This plant is also a special home for the young (larvae) of certain moths. For example, the eupatorium borer moth, the red groundling moth, the ruby tiger moth, and the three-lined flower moth all use this plant as a place for their larvae to grow.
Tiny fly larvae, called Calycomyza flavinotum, also live on the leaves. They create blotch-shaped tunnels inside the leaves as they eat.
Where it is Grown
Sometimes, people plant Eutrochium purpureum in their gardens. It's a pretty plant that attracts wildlife. In some places, like parts of New Zealand, it has even spread from gardens and now grows wild.
Images for kids
-
Flowers and leaves
-
Close-up of the flowers
