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Asteraceae FAMILY

Ageratina altissima

Ageratina altissima

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

The plant contains tremetol, glycosides and a complex alcohol. These toxins cause a fatal disease known as 'staggers' in cattle. The toxin can be passed through the milk and has caused fatalities in humans who have drunk affected cow's milk[1, 2].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

An easily grown plant, succeeding in an ordinary well-drained but moisture retentive garden soil in sun or part shade[3, 4]. It prefers part shade in moist, humus-rich soils, although it also does reasonably well in dryish soils[4]. These plants have decidedly better shade tolerance than most other species in the genus[4] The flowers are very attractive to butterflies[4]. Probably hybridizes in the wild with Ageratina aromatica[5].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame, only just covering the seed. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer. Division in spring. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Ageratina+altissima>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas — Diggs, Jnr. G.M.; Lipscomb. B. L. & O'Kennon. R. J · Botanical Research Institute, Texas. · 1999 · http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/gdiggs/NCTXpdf.htm · ISBN 1-889878-01-4 ↩︎An excellent flora, which is also available on-line.
  2. [2]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  5. [5]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  6. [6]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.