Hollow Joe Pye Weed, a member of the Aster Family with a head of pink disk flowers (no ray flowers), can be seen along Scarboro Creek near the Arboretum entrance. This type of Joe Pye Weed (also called Trumpet Weed) grows up to 10 ft in height and can be distinguished from similar Eutrochium species by its purplish colored, hollow stems, and whorls of 4-7 simple leaves at each node of the stem.

Other types of Joe Pye Weed include Sweet-scented Joe Pye Weed (E. purpureum), a more northern species with solid green stems and 3-4 leaves at each node, and the smaller Spotted Joe Pye Weed (E. maculatum), with spotted purple, solid stems and flat-topped flower heads.

Various accounts have identified Joe Pye as an Algonquin Indian or a white man who used the plant for treating typhus. The hollow stems were used as straws and blow guns. The plant was also used for a variety of internal and external medicinal uses. Apparently there is little, if any, scientific support for its medicinal values. Hollow Joe Pye Weed is found in moist areas along streams, ditches, and roadsides, and in upland fields and meadows. This plant is attractive to many insect pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and wasps.

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