Joe Pye & the Butterfly
Coastal Plain Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium dubium) is a wetland wildflower that occurs on the Alligator River and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges. It stands more than 6 feet tall at maturity. The pink flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies. The flowers mature into fluffy seeds that persist into the winter and are picked off by songbirds. It only occurs on wetlands. Shown on the Joe Pye weed is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.