Common boneset | The Morton Arboretum

Family (English) Aster
Family (botanic) Asteraceae
Tree or plant type Perennial
Native locale Chicago area, Illinois, North America
Size range Large plant (more than 24 inches)
Light exposure Full sun (6 hrs direct light daily), Partial sun / shade (4-6 hrs light daily)
Hardiness zones Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 5 (Northern Illinois), Zone 6 (City of Chicago), Zone 7, Zone 8
Soil preference Moist, Sandy soil, well-drained soil, Wet soil
Tolerances clay soil, Occasional flooding
Season of interest midsummer, late summer, early fall
Flower color and fragrance Fragrant, White
Shape or form Narrow, Upright
Growth rate Fast, Moderate
Wildlife Butterflies, Insect pollinators

Size and method of spreading:

Common boneset will often mature to 4 to 6 feet in height and 3 to 4 feet in spread. They primarily colonize by slowly developing clonal offsets from their underground stem structures (rhizomes). Common boneset can also self-seed, but not very readily.

Native geographic location and habitat: (include C-value if appropriate)

Common boneset is native to the Eastern and Midwestern United States. C-value: 4.

Attracts birds or pollinators:

The fragrant flowers of common boneset attract butterflies, bees, wasps, flies, and beetles, and a number of moth caterpillars will use these plants as a source of food. Though the seeds may be too small to interest many birds, the swamp swallow is known to occasionally eat common boneset seeds.

Leaf description:

The leaves of common boneset occur in pairs that are directly across the stem from each other (opposite arrangement), and the bases of the leaves merge to surround the stem (perfoliate), which is a unique characteristic of this species. They are light green to yellowish green in color, long and narrow (lanceolate), and have small, sawlike teeth along the edges (serrate margins). The deep veins of the leaves give it a wrinkled appearance (rugose). The lower sides of the leaves are hairy (pubescent).

Flower description:

Terminal flower heads occur on the central stems of common boneset, and they consist of nine to 23 disk florets. The flower heads are approximately one-sixth of an inch in diameter. Each individual floret has five lobes that look a bit like petals and form a star shape, as well as two stringlike protrusions in the center (two-part style). These two-part styles give the flowers a fuzzy-looking appearance.

The outer portions of the flower heads are surrounded by one or two layers of light green to whitish leaflike bracts that are hairy with glands present (glandular trichomes). The flower heads grow in a flat-topped formation with the most mature florets occurring around the outer portions of the flower heads (corymb inflorescence).

Fruit description:

Small, dry fruit (achenes) with hair that helps them to disperse with the wind, similar to the fruit produced by a dandelion.