Origin: Swamps, marshes, low ground, alluvial woods, damp areas, and pastures.

Uses: This plant is used as a stimulant to promote digestion, strengthen the viscera, and restore body tone. It is also considered sudorific, alterative, antiseptic, cathartic, emetic, febrifuge, diuretic, and astringent. In Appalachia, a tea made of the leaves is used to treat coughs and consumption, and it is used as a laxative.

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Boneset probably got its name because of its ability to ease the severe muscle and joint pains of breakbone fever, which is known now to be a non fatal mosquito-borne viral disease that causes high fever and rash and that also is known as dengue fever. The stem of the boneset grows thr (perforates) the fused pairs of leaves, hence the species name Eupatorium perfoliatum. Native Americans and pioneers both used a tea made of the aerial parts of the dried plant to treat colds and malaria. The pioneers of Indiana gathered large bundles and dried them for use through the winter. This herbal reduces fever by inducing sweating. Boneset was listed in the US Pharmacopoeia and US Dispensatory for decades as the standard treatment for influenza.
Toxicity:
Use of boneset in large doses may damage the liver and kidneys or lead to internal hemorrhage.

Part used::
Aerial parts

Origin:
America

1) A guide to medicinal plants of Appalachia/ Krochmal, Arnold; Walter, Russel S.; Doughty, Richard M.: USA: U.S.D.A Forest Service:,1959

2) Hull, Kathleen; Photog. Hull, Meredith /Indiana Medical History Museum: Guide to the Medicinal Plant Garden./ USA: Indiana Medical History Museum. 2010. -- p. 58.