As you venture around the countryside this time of year you might notice the presence of a plant with white flowers along the edge of woodlands. There is a good chance this plant is white snakeroot, a perennial in the Asteraceae (sunflower family). The plant is adapted to shady areas with low levels of disturbance, and typically reaches heights of 2 to 3 ft.
All across Iowa, the edges of woods are lined with plants bearing clusters of white flowers. There's a good likelihood those plants are white snakeroot, a native perennial in the Asteraceae family. The plant is best known for its role in milk sickness, an ailment responsible for the death of large numbers of settlers moving into the midwest in the 1800's. Milk sickness was caused by cows grazing on white snakeroot. The toxin would accumulate within the milk and then poison anyone drinking the milk. It took decades to determine the source of the toxin.
