joe pye?

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Who was Joe Pye? And why does he have a weed named in his honor?

This one has a bit of debate swirling around it.

According to one account, the plant is named for Joe Pye, a Native American medicine man who treated typhus (typhoid fever) with extracts made from this weed somewhere in the New England region, perhaps around the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1700s. Sadly, there is no one still alive from that era to verify the story.

In another strand of folklore, Joe Pye was not a Native American but rather a promoter of Indian themes in the 1800s. He also used this meadow-loving herb as a medicinal because it brought on sweating, which was considered helpful for fevers.

Yet, another explanation for the name may be the corruption of the Native American word “jopi” meaning fever.

The one thing all three have in common is that the plant was once used to treat fevers. That's a good thing.

Whatever is true, Joe Pye weed is a monster perennial that can grow to be eight feet tall, year after year. This is no pansy. The mauve colored flower heads can become as large as a basketball, so big and heavy that the plant bends over under their weight.

Whoever Joe Pye was, the weed that bears his name is a whopper!

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