The Original Mystery Plant

Photo by Will Stuart

The decline into autumn has been slow and gradual, but far from imperceptible. Black and yellow garden spiders are in the yard, russet hickory nuts are on the ground, and the first few goldenrods and blue lobelias line the roadsides.

There are various other plants that start blooming in the early autumn, and the mystery plant is one of them.

This towering show- stopper grows along roadsides or in moist meadows or thickets and sometimes reaches an impressive 10 feet and forms big patches. It's not only impressive where it grows in the wild, but it makes a spectacular addition to a garden.

It grows from New England into the Midwest and all the way to Texas and central Florida. The mystery plan can be found along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mt. Pisgah, not far from Asheville.

It is one of several closely related American wildflower species whose taxonomic disposition is somewhat controversial. Their relationships seem to lie with other genera such as blazing- stars, Liatris; ironweeds, Vernonia; mist flowers, Ageratum; and the true bonesets, Eupatorium. Research continues on their accurate placement.

The stems are conspicuously hollow and smoothish and sometimes ridged. Dark green leaves appear on short stalks, four to six at once at each node. The leaf blades are narrowly elliptic and slightly toothy with plenty of tiny, shining glands on the lower surface.

The inflorescence is always at the top end of the plant, much- branched and rounded or dome- shaped. The mystery plant is a member of the sunflower family. The individual flowers are quite small, and this one has a tubular, pink corolla.

Three to eight flowers are crowded into a head, and each head is surrounded by several purplish bracts. Each flower produces a single, one- seeded, slightly angled achene at its base. Atop each achene is a tuft of furry, pinkish- purple hairs, which is the pappus.

Wth several hundred heads on a single plant, the effect is very colorful. The mystery plant is one of the more attractive wildflowers and is visited by bees and large butterflies. Answer to this week's mystery plant [Answer: "Joe-pye weed," Eutrochium fistulosum]

Dr. John Nelson is the curator of the USC Herbarium. To learn more about the Herbarium, call 777-8196. The

department also offers free plant identification.

www.herbarium.org