Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

FALSE BONESET

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Brickellia eupatorioides (L. ) Shinners

[=Kuhnia eupatorioides L.]

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Stems:

Erect, 1 to several-clustered, branched above, nearly glabrous or densely short hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, numerous, simple, short-stalked, lanceolate, 1 to 4 inches long, .25 to 1.5 inch wide, finely hairy, glandular-dotted beneath; margins entire to coarsely toothed; tips long sharp-pointed; upper leaves reduced.

Inflorescences:

Corymb-like, small, terminal; heads 3-8, about 1/2 inch long; bracts lanceolate, stiff, in several series, overlapping, hairy, tips pointed.

Flowers:

Ray florets absent; disk florets 7-33, corollas slender tubular, 5-lobed, less than 1/4 inch long, cream colored.

Fruits:

Achenes, small, oblong, ribbed, tipped with 20 feathery, off-white to tan bristles, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Dry, open prairies, slopes, and waste ground, most abundant in sandy soils.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans in the Southwest used the roots in treatments of coughs.

Comments:

False boneset often is observed in overgrazed pastures. When in fruit, the head resembles a fuzzy ball about 3/4 inch in diameter. The taproot can reach depths of 16 feet. False boneset sometimes is used in floral arrangements.

False bonset has alternate leaves while tall boneset Eupatorium altissimum has opposite leaves. They are occasionally mistaken for one another.

False boneset