Latin: Eryngium yuccifolium
Common: Rattlesnake Master
Why I love it: White, low-maintenance, low-water needs, attracts native bees
Where it is in your garden: Moon Garden
Noteworthy Characteristics:
"Eryngium yuccifolium, commonly called rattlesnake-master or button snake-root, is a Missouri native plant which occurs in rocky woods, prairies and glades throughout the State and was a common plant of the tallgrass prairie. Most members of the parsley/carrot family (Apiaceae) have finely cut foliage and flowers in domed umbels. Not so with rattlesnake-master which features basal rosettes of parallel-veined, bristly-edged, sword-shaped, medium green leaves (to 3' long) resembling those of yucca (lily family) and tiny, stemless, greenish-white flowers tightly packed into globular, 1" diameter heads resembling thistles (composite family). Flower heads appear in branched clusters at the top of smooth stiff stems typically rising to 3-4' (less frequently to 5-6') tall from the centers of the rosettes. Flower heads are subtended by whitish, pointed bracts. Common name is in reference to a former use of this plant as a treatment for rattlesnake bite.
Genus name comes from the Greek eryngion the Greek name for Eryngium campestre.
Specific epithet is in reference to leaves that look like Yucca."
- from Missouri Botanical Garden
