Formerly Known as Eupatorium
If I were taking a course in botany, I’d be lucky if I were averaging a “C.” I am still too eager to get to an ID – I’d like to know a name, a family, something about the plant, and move on.
This attitude gets me into trouble. I zero in on a feature or two and think that is sufficient information to tell me what the plant is. Almost inevitably, I’m wrong.
Case in point. When I returned from my annual visit to the U.S., a small tree was in bloom near my favorite nance tree.
I took pictures, looked at the plant, even sketched a bit of it. Then I went to Keller’s key for identifying plants based on vegetative characteristics. I followed the features – I thought – down to a family I had never heard of, but which sounded very interesting. Feeling sure of myself, I sent off some images and my idea of an ID to a botanist at the Field Museum in Chicago who has helped me before. Almost by return email he kindly informed me that I was entirely wrong – that my plant belonged to the Asteraceae family (the Aster, or Sunflower, family), and that it was probably what used to be called a Eupatorium, the genus of Boneset and, at least formerly, Joe-Pye Weed.
I was stunned and humbled. How could I have made such a mistake?
