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Notes: This plant was not listed on Martha Crone's 1951 inventory of plants in the Garden at that time and added in later years. It is native to a few counties in Minnesota in the NE section of the state and to counties in the SE quadrant including some metro countries but wild native plant surveys did not include it in Hennepin, Scott or Anoka. In North America it is found in the wild from the Central States eastward (excluding the Dakotas and Texas) and in the province of Ontario. It has far less distribution within Minnesota and in North America than the Spotted Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatoriadelphus maculatus.

The common name seems to have the following consensus: The name could have come from an Indian medicine man in colonial New England known as “Joe Pye”. He had fame in using this plant to cure typhoid and several other diseases; or, since an Indian word for typhoid is “jopi”, the plant used to cure typhoid became the jopi weed which eventually worked it way into “Joe Pye.” Take your pick. In some parts of the country the plant is referred to as Queen of the Meadow, but we in Minnesota know a different plant by that name. Gravelroot is a name frequently found in old books, particularly those from Britain.

The scientific name, Eupatorium, came from a Persian general, one Mithridates Eupator who is said to have used plants as a medicine and in his personal quest to become insensitive to poisons. By ingesting a slight amount of plant poisons each day along with various antidotes, Mithridates was able to build an immunity to many poisons, such that when he wished to commit suicide, poison would no longer work and he had to have his servant slay him by the sword. Mithridates died in 63 B.C. Long a friend of Rome, they moved apart and he was finally defeated in his own kingdom of Pontus in Asia Minor by Pompey, which battle earned Pompey the title “Pompey the Great.” The species name, purpureum, is Latin for "purple" or "mottled."

Lore and Uses: (Applies to both Spotted and Sweet Joe-Pye Weed The plant root is the main medicinal part of the plant as it contains some volatile oils and thus when powdered or made into a fluid extract, can be used as a diuretic and for internal ailments. The root is slightly bitter with an aromatic taste and slightly astringent. A decoction of the root is a remedy for problems of the bladder, kidney or urinary system (Hutchins Ref. #12). Densmore(Ref. #5) reports the Chippewa put some of the decoction in a fretful child's bath and sleep would be induced. The working compound in the root is Euparin with the chemical formula C12-H11-O3. Hot teas were made from the leaves and these were said to produce sweating to break a fever. The use of crushed leaves were said to improve the complexion and one legend has it that a young brave courting a young women was “assured” of success if he stuck a wad of the leaves in his mouth before he went visiting. Perhaps it had mouthwash effects as the leaves have a vanilla scent when crushed.