Although, as Mindy says below, bees get nectar from this plant from which they produce honey, this plant also "...contains tremetol, a complex alcohol, and glycosides. 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[274]".

(quoted from Plants for a Future with respect to this plant's synonym, Ageratina altissima)

Ageratina aromatica, is one of those poisonous plants that has great beauty with its cream/green variegated leaves and goes by other names such as Boneset, Thoroughwort, Eupatorium aromaticum 'Joicus Variegated' and Joe Pye Weed.

It also is tolerant of a wide range of soil, light and water conditions, as I discovered in my erstwhile garden. A single volunteer appeared one year, followed by several volunteers the next year. Aesthetically I would have loved to have kept this one, but ultimately yanked them all out due to its toxic risks. (Although I don't keep cows, other mammals are said to be affected by this toxin, and I still wonder to what extent this toxin might affect other life forms. As an aside, let me say here that it was milking cows that helped Dad get through college, albeit Pearl Harbor was quite an interruption. Anyhoo, I never heard about anything like this toxin from Dad's generation.)

ps - There is another gorgeous variegated plant said to be in genus Eupatorium: 'Bartered Bride' and has at least two scientific names:

----- Eupatorium purpureum 'Bartered Bride' (Joe Pye Weed) and

----- Eupatorium fistulosum f. albidum 'Bartered Bride' (from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)

It's not every day some of us find surpassingly beautiful plants that will grow in places inhospitable to most other plants. Any corrections or comments on this post will be welcome.

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Honey bees get nectar from this plant which produces a light colored honey.

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