Herb library · Herb · Eupatorium perfoliatum
Boneset
A North American wetland plant whose leaves grow joined around the stem, long taken as a bitter hot tea for colds, flu and fevers. There are no modern trials of the herb meeting current standards, and every sample tested in a 2018 study contained liver-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Serious warning
Boneset contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, a group of compounds associated with liver disease in people. A 2018 study by USDA and NIH researchers found them in every one of 49 samples, with high amounts in teas and tinctures, and advised caution.
Traditional use
Native to North America, where Indigenous peoples used it for centuries and early European settlers adopted it. Nineteenth-century American doctors gave a hot infusion to cause sweating and vomiting in fevers and influenza, and a cold infusion as a bitter tonic; the name "boneset" comes from its use for the deep aching in the limbs that comes with flu. In Europe today, extracts are used for fever and colds.
What studies show
- Insufficient
Colds and fever: a 2011 review found that the clinical data on boneset do not meet modern standards for trials, though they point to possible benefit for colds. Most of the other research is laboratory and animal work.
- Insufficient
A small 1981 trial in 53 people with colds compared a homeopathic boneset preparation (D2) with aspirin and found no difference between them; it had no placebo group, so it cannot show whether either helped.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteAll 49 boneset samples tested by USDA and NIH researchers contained dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are associated with liver disease in people. Tinctures, hot-water teas and decoctions carried high amounts. The researchers urge caution until the risk is better defined.
- NoteSome samples appeared to be mixed with related Eupatorium species, so what is sold as boneset may vary.
- PregnancyNone of the sources read for this entry studied its safety in pregnancy or breastfeeding. Given the pyrrolizidine alkaloids, ask a clinician first.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“Its popular name, “boneset,” is derived from its well-known property of relieving the deep-seated pains in the limbs which accompany this disorder, and colds and rheumatism.”
“The cold infusion, or extract is tonic and aperient; the warm infusion diaphoretic and emetic.”
Sources
- Potentially toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Eupatorium perfoliatum and three related species. Implications for herbal use as boneset (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Eupatorium perfoliatum L.: phytochemistry, traditional use and current applications (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- A controlled clinical trial for testing the efficacy of the homeopathic drug Eupatorium perfoliatum D2 in the common cold (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.