If Gallup Park had an official park flower, it would have to be Joe-pye weed. This pale purple to pinkish flower dominates the park in late July and early August and blooms for throughout September. It grows along the banks of the Huron River and in the wetlands. Joe Pye weed is named after Joe Pye, a Native American medicine man that lived with early settlers in what is now Massachusetts.
Joe Pye purportedly made an herbal remedy by boiling the roots to make a bitter tasting tea that he used to treat typhus. A number of other herbal uses of the root are as a diuretic for urinary tract infections and nerve soothing agent. Hmmm? Reminds me of another type of weed.
Many of my neighbors have Joe-pye planted in their yards. It is easy to grow and is some what deer proof.
Below Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly feeding on Joe-pye weed nectar. The flower is a magnet for numerous butterfly species. Catching this one was really fun.