In the rich, moist woods, or
by shady roadsides, where it prefers to dwell, the white sanicle
makes a fine show. Above its fringy bloom how often one sees the
exquisite little lavender-blue butterflies (Lycaena
pseudargiolus) pausing an instant to drain the tiny cups of
nectar, and usually transferring pollen from the protruding
styles (q.v.) as they flit to another cluster.
The opposite, petioled leaves, broadly oval at the base,
taper-pointed, coarsely toothed, three-nerved, and veiny, are
thin and easily skeletonized by the insects that enjoy the leaves
of all this clan of plants. From one to four feet high, the White
Snakeroot grows in the United States and Canada as far west as
Nebraska.
Closely allied to the eupatoriums, and with similar
inflorescence, is the CLIMBING BONESET or HEMPWEED (Willughbaeaa
scandens; Mikania scandens of Gray.) Straggling over bushes in
swamps, by the brookside thicket, or in moist, shady roadsides,
the vine reveals its kinship to the boneset instantly it comes
into bloom in midsummer, although its flower clusters are
occasionally pinkish.
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