Sun: Full, partial
Moisture: Medium-wet to medium-dry
Height: 2-6'
Bloom Time: Jun-Aug
Bloom Color: White
Genotype: Winona, MN (shares a Level II ecosystem, Mixed Woods Plains, with Southeastern Michigan).
Indigenous interactions: In the Great Lakes area, the Menominee, Meskwaki, and Ojibwa prepared infusions and decoctions of the root to treat a very large range of illnesses (Moerman, 1998).
 
This tall, graceful plant is crowned with a cluster of tapering white flower-spikes that attract pollinators. Stately by itself or useful as a garden backdrop or vertical accent. "The height to which this plant grows is always a source of wonderment," noted American botanist Alice Lounsberry in her 1899 book A Guide to the Wild Flowers. "Perhaps it simply longs to peep over the top of the trees that grow near it in the cool woods or to call attention to itself when it blooms in the meadows."