Ageratum, White Snake Root / Ageratina altissima

Ageratina altissima

Names this plant has been called.

Ageratum, Snake root, White snake root, White Sanicle , Tall Boneset

 Started running into Snake root yesterday. These 2 photos were at the bottom of a cliff in the open sun.

 Here I found Snake root in a draw. The leaves were narrower but the flowers were exact. Maybe a different race?

The leaves are opposite and rotate 90 degrees at each rank.

Here I run into it again in the Missouri river bottoms.


Tremetol is toxic. When cattle eat it, it gets in the milk and passed into humans will poison. Also called milk sickness.

Nancy Hanks Abraham Lincoln's mother died of this. Thousands died in the 19th century before they realized what the plant was.



Early settlers thought the bitter rhizomes were beneficial in the treatment of snakebites. That's where the snakeroot name came from.