Talk:Eupatorium perfoliatum

Illustration of perfoliate leaves

One of the most distinctive features of this plant is the perfoliate leaves. Therefore, I believe this article should have a close-up of them. I have restored the photo that was here (although in a better location in the article). Other opinions? Discussions of what might not be so good about that image? Other ways of making the point? Kingdon (talk) 00:00, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

As the guilty party who removed the image, my apologies. It was in the midst of other cleanup that I was doing, and was done too hastily. I'm all for more foliage photos in general, and in this type of case specifically. First Light (talk) 00:08, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

No problem. And if someone wants to take a better picture of the leaves, that would be helpful too. Kingdon (talk) 13:57, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

Dengue, name boneset, Brown

I've moved the following text from the article to here. The part about dengue and the name look like WP:OR. If not, we'd need a source. Cases like this can be tricky, because one sometimes wonders whether the published books which mention this sort of thing are just speculating, or repeating uncritically what they saw in other books, but that isn't sufficient reason to start adding our own ideas unless they can be sourced. As for the Brown, this might be a decent source (especially if what he says agrees with other sources), but focusing on the details of how to prepare the tonic isn't really Wikipedia's mission; see WP:NOTHOWTO. Kingdon (talk) 07:28, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

While this use for treatment of Dengue has been repeatedly cited across the Internet, it is, however, questionable due to the fact that Dengue Fever, according to the CDC, only became endemic in the 1950s and is a rare occurrence in North America in any case. So how it became "known" for treating a disease early native peoples wouldn't have been exposed to, is curious.

More likely the common name derived from the way the leaves "Stitch" themselves around the central stalk as they grow, much like bones healing.

A more complete reference to the plant comes from "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Edible and Medicinal Plants." In this work, he directly cites the plant's orthopedic healing properties and gives an account of it's use in that role. He also goes on to explain the very particular method of preparation when used in that role...in a tea, served warm. Not cold (which he cites as a general health tonic) and not hot (which he cites as a diuretic), but warm. He is very specific on this point and very detailed in his description of it's use in the field. Despite his sometimes controversial nature, Brown is a noted authority in this area.