By Steve Roark
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Volunteer
Ironweed (Veronia altissima) is the purple flower you see growing on a tall, slender stalk in pasture and hay fields while driving down the road.
Ironweed can grow to a height of 7 to 10 feet in deep moist soils, but usually averages around 5 feet. The stem of the plant is very hard and stiff, hence the name. Spear shaped leaves around six inches long grow all along the length of the stem.
The purple flowers bloom from late July to early October and form clusters at the top of the plant. Ironweed is in the Composite family, meaning the individual purple flowers you see are not the true flowers. Like daisies and asters, the real flowers are a cluster of small tube-like structures that form the disk at the center of what looks like a single purple flower.
Though pretty to look at, ironweed is considered a weed to most farmers. In pasture fields it can be an indicator of overgrazing but is easily controlled with herbicides or clipping. Cattle won’t eat it, and the only wildlife that use it are insects, where it is an important late season food source for pollinator species. The Monarch butterfly makes heavy use of ironweed to refuel during their annual migrations, and it is the host plant for the American and painted lady butterflies. Other butterfly users include the eastern tiger swallowtails, skippers and sulfurs.
Ironweed is also a great source of pollen and nectar for bee flies, miner and long-tounged bees and bumblebees. For honeybees it is an excellent source of nectar.
As far as human use, Native Americans used the root of ironweed as a pain reliever following childbirth, for stomach ailments and to control bleeding.