The origin story of Joe Pye weed and it’s medicinal uses have long stumped researchers. CONTRIBUTED
In summer, many New England roads are lined with clouds of magenta flowers atop the tall stems of several species of Joe Pye weed, especially where the roads are bordered by damp ditches. Who was Joe Pye? A perusal of popular botanical sources reveals that he was a Native American, but little consensus beyond that (and not even that; one field guide describes him as a “Caucasian ‘Indian theme promoter’”). Various references place him in different tribal groups and different centuries. Many references credit him with using this plant to cure a disease, most often given as typhus, both in Native and European-origin communities, although details are often vague and differ among accounts. Fortunately, researchers Richard Pearce and James Pringle have recently reviewed these confusing accounts and delved into historical records to uncover what little can be known about the real man behind the stories.
Like many people living in two cultures who use two names, a Mohican leader Joseph Shauquethqueat (1722 to about 1809) sometimes used the English name Joseph Pye (or variants thereof). Living much of his life in Stockbridge, Shauquethqueat lived shortly before the name “Joe Pye weed” is first known to have been used (1818). In 1824 the plants were mentioned in print as being used in western Massachusetts for typhus fever and to induce sweating. Unfortunately, although Shauquethqueat was apparently well-respected in both Mohican and European-origin communities, there is no known reliable evidence that he was especially knowledgeable about medicinal uses of plants or that he ever cured typhus or any other disease with the plant that now has his name. There is always a chance that an account contemporary with the event, perhaps in a letter or diary, will surface documenting the cure, ideally with enough detail to identify the disease, the plant, and the curer, but, as far as I know, there is no such evidence currently available.
Are the plants that some people now call Shauquethqueat-weeds a cure for typhus or any other ailment? Daniel Moerman’s 2009 comprehensive book, “Native American Medicinal Plants,” lists many uses by 11 Native groups (not, though, for Shauquethqueat’s Mohicans) for two species of Joe Pye weed, but does not mention typhus. While some of these reported uses suggest possible antibacterial activity (treatment for tuberculosis and gonorrhea), evidence of efficacy and safety are not available. Can preparations of these plants kill the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, gonorrhea, or typhus? Maybe, but the placebo effect, in which people feel better when given a treatment they expect to work, confounds anecdotal evidence.
Plants, like humans, face many bacterial diseases, so it is not surprising that plants have evolved many protective compounds. Some of those compounds have proven useful as human medicines, and plants are thus good places to look for potential drugs. Traditional uses of plant medicines, if well-documented, can suggest which plants might be most promising. Caution, though, is called for. For example, one study of extracts from over 100 plant species found that most of these extracts, including from one species of Joe Pye weed, had some antibacterial activity. Some of the extracts, though, promoted bacterial growth, and others had opposite effects on two species of bacteria. Isolating active compounds, testing safety, and determining whether activity seen in the lab applies to disease-causing bacteria in living humans are complicated and expensive processes. Unfortunately, too, patent laws sometimes result in natural products being unprofitable to pursue for drug companies.
While killing the bacteria that produce a disease like typhus can provide a cure, drugs that ameliorate disease symptoms can increase comfort and may buy time for the body’s own defenses to work. The anti-inflammatory properties of at least one chemical, cistifolin, isolated from the underground stems of Joe Pye weed, might be useful in treatment of various diseases, but, as far as I know, this drug is not in current use.
While Joe Pye weed, like other plants, might contain useful drugs, those chemicals are naturally mixed with all the other chemicals of a plant and are not necessarily equally distributed in all parts of a plant. Two well-known examples provide useful cautions for those tempted to use herbal medicines based on poorly documented tradition: St. John’s wort, a pretty mid-summer flower, provides drugs that can help reduce depression but which also interact in complex, potentially life-threatening ways to decrease or increase the activity of other drugs. Rhubarb stems are a familiar food while rhubarb leaves are toxic.
As we enjoy the blooming of Joe Pye weeds, we can honor the memory of Shauquethqueat/Joe Pye, puzzle over his possible connection to the plant, and cautiously hope that this and other plants will provide useful drugs.
For those who want more detail on the history of Joe Pye weed’s name, the article by Pearce and Pringle is here: https://tinyurl.com/vhexxc9r.
For help distinguishing among the four similar species of Joe Pye weed that occur in New England, see https://tinyurl.com/ywdwzkkj.
David Spector (he/him) is a retired biologist and former board president of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.
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