Additional images of White Snakeroot
White snakeroot is an erect, branched herb usually about 3 feet tall but varying from 1 to 5 feet. It has slender, round stems and branches bearing pointed, oval, oppositely placed leaves. These leaves, 3 to 5 inches long and petioled, are sharply toothed on the margins. Each leaf has 3 main veins that show prominently on the underside. The roots are fibrous, coarse, and shallow.
In late summer, numerous small heads of minute white flowers appear at the top of the stem and the ends of the branches. These flower heads, except that they are white, are almost exactly like the flower heads of the familiar ageratum of gardens. Later the flowers are replaced in the heads by small black seeds each with a crown of soft white hairs.
Because the leaves of white snakeroot resemble those of the nettle, other plants with nettle-like leaves are often mistaken for it. Two such plants are the nettle-leaved sage and the nettle-leaved vervain. Even without flowers or fruit, these plants can be easily distinguished from white snakeroot. The nettle-leaved sage, a rare plant in some southern Illinois counties, has square stems; white snakeroot stems are round. The nettle-leaved vervain, a common weed throughout Illinois, has lance-shaped leaves; white snakeroot leaves are broad at the base but narrow quickly in a wedge-shaped part to the petiole.
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Last updated: August 5, 1996
Please direct all comments or requests for information to M. Williams.