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Eupatorium capillifolium
Also called Dog Fennel, Bitter Weed, Cypressweed
In Singapore: Dogfennel (Grown in Singapore)
Dogfennel is a North American herbaceous weed of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground, growing 50 cm to 2 m tall with feathery, thread-like leaves. It is a wild species rather than a garden plant and is not usually grown on purpose.
Eupatorium capillifolium, or dog fennel (also written "dogfennel"), is a North American perennial herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the eastern and south-central United States. It is generally between 50 cm and 2 meters tall with several stems that fork from a substantial base. The stems and base are covered in leaves so dissected that they resemble branching green threads coming out of the stem in fractal patterns. When crushed, the leaves have a sour odor similar to dill pickles. The flowers have a subtle floral odor.
Dog fennel thrives on roadsides, in fields and reduced tillage crops, as well as areas that have burned or otherwise been disturbed. It is found in the early to middle (seral) stages of ecological succession. It is native to the southern and eastern United States, from Massachusetts south to Florida, and west to Missouri and Texas, and also Cuba and the Bahamas. Unlike insect-pollinated plants in this genus, E. capillifolium is wind-pollinated.
Dog fennel is eaten by Florida's scarlet-bodied wasp moth, Cosmosoma myrodora. These moths feed on the plant while mature, to store its toxins and ward off predators.
Dog fennel contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause liver failure.
Eupatorium capillifolium is extracted into an essential oil and has anti-fungal properties.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eupatorium capillifolium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
