This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have a common fragrant weed of roadsides and fallow fields, Dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium).
Despite what you may have been led to believe, Dogfennel is neither a dog nor a fennel. It’s actually a perennial member of the Aster family, Asteraceae, and a member of the Boneset genus. However, unlike other Bonesets, Dogfennel produces neither pollen nor nectar for our pollinating insects. It is entirely wind pollinated. Its seeds are also wind dispersed and fly their way to fields, gardens, and bare earth across the South. Its vigorous growth lets it establish quickly and soon grows taller than a man. Its stem is stiff and woody beneath a sheen of translucent fuzz and feathery emerald-green foliage. In mid-fall Dogfennel blooms with a spray of minute gray-white flowers. The cycle repeats.
On an aside, despite what is commonly told the essential oils found in Dogfennel do not repel mosquitoes. However, these same oils lend the plant its flagrantly fragrant scent and make the leaves unappetizing to herbivores. Also it’s mildly poisonous. So nothing eats it. I’ll be frank, Dogfennel is a certainly weed if ever there was one. It has little merit in most ecosystems but it’s not without some benefit. Old Dogfennel stems provide habitat for cavity nesting bees and other such insects. However, its most important role is that of soil stabilization and ecosystem pioneering. Dogfennel is very adept at spreading to and establishing in new habitat. If there’s bare ground out there, you can be sure Dogfennel will find it. Once established, it quickly grows a deep taproot. This helps protect soil from erosion and facilitates other plants to establish. This also creates some cover and perches for wildlife to use in what would otherwise be a barren environment. Over time dogfennel will get crowded out by grasses and trees. And so, this plant begins anew some miles and a generation away where the clay lays bare.
