Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is a very ornamental, climbing, woody vine growing from 8 to 15 feet in length. It trails over bushes or entwines its stem about the branches of trees. The lower leaves have short stems, are rounded-oval in shape, and opposite, as are those of all the members of this family. The leaves near the ends of the branches are united at their bases, clasping the stems and forming cup-shaped structures. The strikingly colored flowers grow in whorls on spikes terminating the branches. The tubular corollas are about two inches in length, bright red on the outside and yellow within; the opening of the corolla spreads but very little and is five-lobed. In the South the leaves of the Coral Honeysuckle are evergreen but in the North they are deciduous. In fall where each flower was located during the summer we find an orange-red berry. This species is distributed from Conn. and Neb. southward.
(A) Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) (European). This beautiful European species is a frequent escape from gardens and is quite firmly established in several localities in the Eastern States.
The simple stems are erect and quite tall, ranging from 1 to 3 feet high. The toothed, lance-shaped leaves alternate along the lower portion of the stem and the bell-shaped purplish flowers are in loose spikes on the terminal portions.
(B) Harebell; Bluebell (Campanula rotundifolia) is the “Blue Bells of Scotland” so familiar to us in song and verse. It is a very slender-stemmed species but very hardy, as attested by the altitudes at which it is found on mountains. The flowering stems are very slender and wiry, sparsely set with linear leaves; they usually branch near the summit, each division bearing a demure, drooping violet bell. It is found in bloom from June until September in rocky or sandy places in Canada and northern United States.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Although exceedingly bright colored, these flowers are rightly classed as among our most beautiful wild ones. As might be expected from their color, they are visited by and chiefly fertilized by the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
The simple stem grows to heights of 2 to 4 feet, from perennial creeping rootstalks that often throw up new plants; the stalk is hollow and rather closely set with alternating, lanceshaped leaves, the lower ones stemmed and toothed, the upper ones clasping the stem and nearly smooth-edged. The showy flower-spike is loosely set with bright red flowers; the narrow, tubular corolla proceeds from a five-parted calyx, and ends in two lips, the upper having two erect, narrow lobes and the lower a broad three-cleft one, velvety scarlet; the five stamens are united in an erect tube. The Cardinal Flower is found in moist ground, especially along brooks, blooms in August and September and is found from N. S. to Minn. and southward.
(A) Spiked Lobelia (Lobelia spicata) is a small flowered species having a simple leafy stem from 1 to 4 feet in height. The leaves vary greatly in shape from lance-shaped to oblong, and decrease in size rapidly as they approach the flower spike. The small, pale blue-violet flowers are set in short smooth calyces. The upper lip of the corolla has two small lobes and the lower one is divided into three, larger, spreading ones. It is commonly found in dry, sandy soil from N. S. to Manitoba and southward.
(B) Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata) is the most common of the Lobelias; it is found growing everywhere in either sandy or moist soil, in woods or in fields. The alternating leaves are pointed-oval and sparingly wavy-toothed; the lower ones are quite large, while the upper ones are very small. The simple stem is stout and quite hairy; it grows from 1 to 2 feet in height. The little blue-violet flowers are barely one quarter inch long, each seated in a large, smooth inflated calyx.
The flower calyces enlarge after the corollas have withered away, and form round seed-pods.
(A) Tall Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa) is a tall, handsome perennial that grows in dry situations and attains heights of 2 to 6 feet. A long spike containing numerous, quite large flower-heads adorns the top of the stem. These heads, which are about ¾ in. in diameter, have a very disheveled appearance for the magenta-purple rays emerge in all directions; they are contained in a large imbricated involucre. The leaves are stiff, lanceolate, and closely alternated along the stem. It is found from Me. to Mich. and southward.
(B) Ironweed (Veronia noveboracensis) is a tall (3 to 7 feet) and smooth-stemmed member of the Composite Family. The alternating leaves are lanceolate and finely toothed. The flower-heads are grouped in flat-topped clusters. The rays are slender and very numerous, giving the heads the appearance of little thistles. This species blooms in August and September, at which season it is one of the characteristic plants in moist ground near the seashore.
(A) Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) is a very familiar and pretty species. The simple, rather slender, stem is very tall, attaining heights of from 2 to 10 feet. The stem is usually stained purplish and is set at intervals with whorls of three to six, rough, coarsely toothed leaves; these latter have short stems, rather broad bases, and are sharp-pointed. The flowers grow in flat-topped terminal clusters. Each floret is of a rosy purple color that has projecting styles that give the flowers a very fuzzy appearance.
Joe Pye Weed is commonly found in moist places from Newfoundland to Minn. and southward, flowering during August and September.
(B) Thoroughwort; Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) is a flowering herb, dearly beloved by the old-fashioned housewife and equally detested by the small boy. It was, and still is, one of the most commonly used home remedies. The stem is stout, hairy, and 1 to 5 feet tall. The opposite leaves are perfoliate, that is the ends are joined together. It is very common in swamps or thickets everywhere.
(A) Golden Aster (Chrysopsis mariana) is, as one would judge from its species name, very partial to the seacoast, where it may be found in profusion in dry sandy places and along roadsides.
The flowers grow in rather loose, flat-topped clusters, each head being on a rather long, slightly sticky peduncle. The tubular and ray florets proceed from a bell-shaped involucre composed of overlapping bracts. Its period of bloom is during August and September and it ranges from N. Y. and Pa. southward to Fla. and La.
(B) Curved-leaved Golden Aster (Chrysopsis falcata) is a very beautiful species with a silvery, wooly stem, 4 to 10 inches high, closely crowded with stiff, linear, downy, slightly recurved leaves. The golden-yellow flowers spread about an inch; the tubular florets in the centre have a brownish orange tinge but the numerous straps or ray-flowers are the brightest of orange-yellow. This species loves dry, sandy soil and is most abundant near the coast from Cape Cod to the pine barrens of New Jersey. It may be found in bloom from the latter part of July until September.
The Genus Solidago is a very large one, comprising more than eighty species.
(A) Silver-rod; White Golden-rod (Solidago bicolor) bears the distinction of being the only one of our very numerous Golden-rods that does not have golden flowers. Those of this species are white or cream-colored. The stem is usually simple and attains heights of from 10 to 30 inches.
Silver-rod blooms during August and September on dry ground, frequently along roadsides or the edges of woods, from N. B. to Minn. and southward to the Gulf.
(B) Blue-stemmed Golden-rod (Solidago cæsia) blooms during September and October. The simple stem is closely set with lanceolate, toothed leaves, and from the axils of those on the upper half of the stem appear loose racemes of flowers. The heads are rather larger than those of most of the Golden-rods and have from three to five, comparatively long, golden rays surrounding the tubular florets.
(A) Early Golden-rod (Solidago juncea) is a very common species and one of the earliest to bloom, being found in flower from July until September. The flowers are in a large graceful cluster, composed of numerous racemes, at the summit of a tall, simple stem 2 to 4 feet high. The stem is smooth, angular, and usually a ruddy brown. The leaves are smooth, lance-shaped; the lower ones toothed, but the upper with nearly even edges. The golden-yellow flowers have eight to ten rays. Found in dry places from N. B. to Sask. and southward.
(B) Rough-stemmed Golden-rod (Solidago rugosa) is a very hairy species, rough to the touch. The stem attains heights of 1 to 7 feet. The flower racemes spread in a broad, pyramidal panicle. The leaves are feather-veined, quite hairy and coarsely toothed.
Canada Golden-rod (Solidago canadensis) is perhaps the most common and the handsomest of the genus. The flower cluster is very large and plume-like. The leaves are thin, narrowly lanceolate and finely toothed. The rather slender stem ascends to heights of 2 to 7 feet. The flower-heads are rather small.
Lance-leaved Golden-rod (Solidago graminifolia). This species differs greatly in appearance from the usual form of most of the Golden-rods.
The stem is simple, angular, and slightly rough; it ascends 2 to 5 feet and near the summit sends up many slender wiry, leafy branches supporting flat-topped flower clusters. The flowers are crowded closely together but are very small and rather dull-colored; they have 12 to 20 minute rays. The leaves are small and narrowly lanceolate; they have three to five ribs and are toothless but have a rough edge. It blooms from August until October, very commonly from N. S. to Sask. and southward to N. J. and Mo.
Showy Golden-rod (Solidago speciosa) is a large species, from 3 to 7 feet tall, with a stout simple stem and a magnificent, bright golden-yellow, plume-like head; the flowers are comparatively large and have usually five rays. Readily distinguished by its leaves, the lower ones rather large, contracting into a margined stem, gradually decreasing in size to small lance-shaped ones at the top of the stem.
The members of this genus are exceedingly numerous in species. They are very variable; some have large flower-heads, others tiny ones; some are quite tall, others barely rise above the ground; some have few flowers on a plant while on others they are exceedingly numerous. Their colors are usually some shade of purple or white.
New England Aster (Aster novæ-anglæ) is one of the largest of the genus, its stem attaining heights of from 2 to 6 feet.
The stem is stout, branched, and rather rough. The leaves are soft, hairy, lance-shaped, and clasp the stem by a somewhat heart-shaped base. The flowers are in a broad corymb at the top of the stem. They are quite large, measuring about an inch across; the 30 to 40 narrow rays are of a purplish color, often quite bright.
This species is common from Me. to Minn. and southward, blooming from August to October, frequenting dry ground.
Smooth Aster (Aster lævis) is a handsome species having a smooth, stout stem, from 2 to 4 feet high. The flowers are in lovely terminal clusters, each blossom measuring about an inch across; they are usually light violet-blue in color, although color is very variable with all the so-called blue asters; each disk is surrounded by 15 to 30 rays. The leaves are nearly smooth-edged, lanceolate, clasping the stem with a distinct heart-shaped base. The Smooth Aster is abundant from Me. to Minn. and southward, growing in dry soil and blooming in September and October.
New York Aster (Aster novi-belgii) is one of the very commonest of the “blue asters.” The stalk is slender, very branchy, and grows from 1 to 3 feet in height. The leaves are commonly narrowly lanceolate but are very variable; they slightly clasp the stem with their bases. The numerous flower-heads are a trifle more than an inch across, the yellowish centre being surrounded by 15 to 24 lilac or blue-violet rays. This species abounds from Newfoundland to Florida and perhaps west to the Miss. Valley. It blooms in September and October.
(A) Heart-leaved Aster (Aster cordifolius) is a common species, readily identified by the shape of its leaves that are, the lower ones especially, heart-shaped and on quite long, slender, ciliate petioles. The stalk is slender, branchy, and grows from 1 to 4 feet high. The flowers are numerous but comparatively small, about ⅝ inch across; they have brownish yellow centres and 10 to 20 lilac, or lighter colored rays. It is a very common species in thin woods and thickets, or along their edges. Found from N. B. to Minn. and southward, flowering in September and October.
(B) Panicled Aster (Aster paniculatus) is a very tall, branching, slender-stemmed species, commonly found in moist ground and on the borders of woods or copses. The smooth stalk attains heights of from 2 to 8 feet. At the ends of the branches are numerous flower-heads about the size of a nickel, loosely panicled. The leaves are long, lance-shaped, nearly smooth, obscurely, or not at all toothed, and dark green in color. This is one of the palest colored of the “blue asters,” the flowers are very light violet and often white.
(A) Heath Aster (Aster ericoides) is a common white Aster from Me. to Minn. and southward. The plant grows 1 to 3 feet tall and has many branches, each having simple, many-flowered stems racemed along their outer ends. All the stems, even the flower peduncles, are set with tiny, heath-like, linear leaves. In our illustration, the apparently different size between the flowers of this and the last species is because the scale is different.
(B) Many-flowered Aster (Aster multiflorus) has, as its name would lead one to think, very many flowers, but they are small, averaging less than ½ inch across. In fact, most of the white-flowered species do have smaller flowers than the blue ones, but what they lack in size they more than make up in numbers. The stem is slender but very branching, making a bush-like plant. Each branch is terminated by short, many-flowered racemes. The leaves are tiny, light green and linear, smooth-edged but rough to the touch, crowded along the branches to their tips. This is a common species from Mass. to Minn. and southward, growing in dry places everywhere and blooming from September to November.
(A) Small White Aster (Aster vimineus) is still another of the tiny, white-flowered Asters. It has a tall, branching stem from 2 to 5 feet high; the branches nearly all leave the main stalk in a horizontal position and the inflorescence is chiefly on one side of the flowering stems. It grows in moist soil from Me. to Minn. and southward.
(B) Starved Aster (Aster lateriflorus) is a much-branched, slightly hairy species, common in thickets and fields from N. S. to Ontario and southward. The leaves are lanceolate and taper to a point at each end. The ray florets are usually less in number than most of the other white species.
Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron ramosus) is a common aster-like species found blooming in fields from June until October. The stem is rough-hairy, and grows 1 or 2 feet tall. The small daisy-like flowers grow in a corymbed cluster at the top of the stem; they are about ½ inch across, have quite a broad disc of tubular, yellowish florets, and very numerous, narrow, ray florets; these rays range from 40 to 80 in number.
(A) Aster umbellatus is a common species of white Aster found growing in moist woodland or thickets. It has smooth, leafy, branching stems from 2 to 6 feet tall.
The numerous flower-heads are in compound flat-topped corymbs; the centre, or disc florets, are greenish yellow and are surrounded by a few white rays, usually less than a dozen. It is a common species throughout the northern parts of the United States.
(B) Sharp-leaved Wood Aster (Aster acuminatus) is a low-growing woodland Aster growing from 1 to 3 feet in height. The leaves are quite large, sharply pointed, sharply toothed, and short stemmed. A few alternate along the lower portions of the stem and a number are so close together as to appear whorled about the stem, just below the flowers. The flowers are few in number, on slender pedicels. They have few white rays and a rather brownish centre; the rays are long, narrow, often wavy and give the flower a spread of from 1 to 1½ inches. It is quite a common species in cool rich woods from Labrador to Ontario and south to Pa. It blooms during August and September.
(A) Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) is the largest-flowered and the prettiest of the everlastings.
The stems are simple, quite stout, white-wooly, leafy, and 6 to 30 inches in height. The leaves are long and narrow, have a smooth edge, are grayish green above and wooly below, and narrow into clasping bases; they are closely set around the stem from the base to the flower cluster.
The flowers are in flat-topped clusters; each head is composed of many pearly-white, dry, overlapping scales that surround brownish-yellow, tubular florets. Staminate and pistillate flowers grow on different plants. This Everlasting is very common on dry hillsides, in woods, or on recently cleared land. Its range extends from N. S. to Manitoba and southward to S. C. and Mo. It is in full bloom from July until September.
(B) Sweet Everlasting (Gnaphalium polycephalum) has a wooly stem and wavy, lanceolate, wooly leaves. The pearly flower-heads are oval in shape; they do not expand until after they have matured. It is common in pastures everywhere.
(B) Rosin-weed; Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) is a large, showy-flowered plant found on the western prairies. It has a stout, rough, bristly stem that attains heights of from 3 to 10 feet. The stem grows from a perennial root. The large leaves are pinnately divided, each division being linear and cut-lobed.
The flower-heads are very large, measuring from 2 to 4 inches across. They are sessile or exceedingly short stemmed, seated along the upper portion of the stout stem. They are disposed to present their edges north and south. Compass Plant is found on prairies from Mich. to North Dakota and southward; it blooms from July until September.
(A) Prairie Dock (Silphium terbinthinaceum pinnatifidium) is rather an attractive plant that also grows on prairies and the edges of copses. The smooth, slender stem ascends 3 to 10 feet high and bears a loose panicle of large, yellow-rayed flower-heads. The leaves mostly come from the root and lower part of the stem; they are slender-petioled and deeply pinnatifid. Found from O. to Minn. and southward.
Elecampane (Inula Helenium) (European) is a tall, stout, beautiful member of the composite family that comes to us from the Old World.
The stout, smooth, usually unbranched stalk grows from 2 to 6 feet in height and is leafy throughout. At the summit of the stem is a single (or sometimes two) large flower set on a peduncle from the angle of the upper leaf. A smaller, flat, bract-like leaf appears just below the flower involucre. The head measures 2 or 3 inches across and has a broad disc of tubular, yellow florets, these turning tan color as they age. The yellow rays are numerous, but very narrow, usually set at different angles and with some vacant places so that the flower has a rather disheveled appearance.
The upper leaves usually clasp the plant stem, while the lower ones are on petioles. They are broad, thick-textured, toothed and pointed; the large, whitish veins show very prominently; the upper surface of the leaf is rough, yellowish green, while the lower is lighter and wooly.
(A) Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) is one of the earliest members of the Composite Family to bloom. In fact, it is often known as the “Blue Spring Daisy,” a name which is very appropriate for it, much more so than the one it commonly bears. The very fuzzy, light green, juicy stalk attains heights of from 10 to 24 inches. Most of the leaves are in a dense rosette at the base of the stalk; they are spatulate in shape, indistinctly toothed and hairy throughout. From one to nine flowers, an inch, or slightly more, broad are grouped at the top of the stem. It is common everywhere, blooming in May and June.
(B) Purple Cone Flower (Brauneria purpurea) is a showy western species bearing a single, large flower-head with a conical centre of purple disc florets and surrounded by many large, notched, magenta rays. The stiff, hairy stem rises 2 to 3 feet high. The leaves, also stiff-hairy, alternate along it; the upper ones are toothless and seated on the stem, while the lower ones are sharply toothed; they are five-ribbed and deep green in color. Rich soil, N. Y. to Mich. and southward.
Black-eyed Susan; Yellow Daisy; Cone-flower (Rudbeckia hirta) is a beautiful, large-flowered, tough-stemmed species that is commonly found in dry fields and pastures throughout the East, although it is, by nativity, a western species.
The stem is hairy, rough, very tough, and grows from 1 to 3 feet in height. Single, large flowers are borne at the summit of each stem.
The involucre is composed of two rows of leaf-like bracts that spread as the flower opens, the outer ones extending almost as widely as the rays. The conical, dark purple centre is composed of long, tubular florets that ripen in successive circles about the cone, making a fringe of yellow pollen on its surface. The orange-yellow rays are neutral, with neither stamens nor pistils.
The leaves, scattered alternately along the stem, are stiff and hairy. The upper ones are lanceolate and seated on the stem, the lower ones are broader toward the tip, rather spatulate shaped.
Tall Cone-flower (Rudbeckia laciniata) is a tall, lanky member of this genus, with an entirely different temperament from that of the Black-eyed Susan. No hot, sandy, or dusty fields for this, but the cool depths of moist thickets. As usual with vegetation in moist, rich soil, its growth is luxuriant. The smooth, branching stem ascends to heights of 3 to 10 feet and is leafy throughout. Ordinarily, the plant does not grow more than 5 feet in height; those that exceed this height might be termed giants of the species. The lower leaves are very large, are on long petioles and are cleft into five or seven divisions; the lower and middle stem leaves are usually three-parted while the upper ones, or at least the ones nearest the flowers, are small and elliptical.
Several large flower-heads terminate the branches; they measure from 2 to 4 inches across. The central disc is, at first, hemispherical and green but finally becomes elongated and brownish. The rays number six to twelve and are bright yellow in color. This species blooms from July until September and is found from Me. to Manitoba and southward.
Ten-petalled Sunflower (Helianthus decapetalous). This is a slender-stemmed, graceful, showy-flowered Sunflower, common in damp woods and on the borders of thickets, from Me., Quebec, and Minn. southward. The branching stem grows from 2 to 5 feet tall; it is slightly hairy-rough on the upper portions but smooth below. The leaves are thin, rather rough-broad lance-shaped, short-stemmed and grow oppositely on the stem; they are all sharply saw-toothed. The showy flowers, growing on slender peduncles from the ends of the branches, are 2 to 3 inches across. Though often with ten rays, they just as frequently have any number from 8 to 15.
Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is the common garden Sunflower that often has such enormous heads. The normal, wild plant is common from Minn. to Texas and westward. The flower-heads range from 3 to 6 inches in diameter; it is only the cultivated variety, produced from this, that has the mammoth heads we often see.
In its wild state the plant grows from 3 to 6 feet tall. Their period of bloom is from July until September.
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is, like the Common Sunflower, a valuable species, and one that is often cultivated because of its edible roots, these being tender and of good flavor; they are eaten raw or cooked. Their value as articles of food was first discovered by Indians and by them imparted to our early colonists. The name Jerusalem, in connection with this plant, is a corruption from the name applied to the species by Italians (Girasole Articocco), meaning sunflower artichoke.
It is a handsome plant, the stout, leafy, hairy stalk growing from 3 to 12 feet tall and being topped with several large showy flowers. The large, three-veined leaves are hairy and have toothed margins. They are chiefly set oppositely on the stem, although some of the upper ones may alternate. The several flower-heads are large, measuring up to 3 inches across. The central florets are greenish yellow and are surrounded by from 12 to 24 lone, golden-yellow rays.
This species is often also known as the Canada Potato and the Earth Apple. Its range extends from southern Canada southward nearly to the Gulf.
(A) Beggar-ticks; Stick-tight (Bidens frondosa) is a plant familiar, to their sorrow, to all who roam the woods and fields during fall. Who has not had the pleasant task of sitting down and, one by one, removing the little two-hooked, black seeds that hang so closely to clothing.
Beggar-ticks, in appearance, is an uninteresting weed common everywhere in moist ground or along roadsides. The stem is very branching and is from 1 to 8 feet tall. The leaves are compounded of three to five sharply toothed, lance-shaped leaflets. The flower-heads are composed of tubular brownish-yellow florets, sometimes with no surrounding rays and again with a few tiny ones.
(B) Larger Bur-marigold; Brook Sunflower (Bidens lævis) is a very attractive species while it is in flower, but later, after the little seeds have formed, it has the same disagreeable traits common to all the members of the genus. The flowers of this species are 1 to 2 in. across, having 8 or 10 large, yellow, neutral rays surrounding the dull-colored disc florets. The stem is slender and branching, the leaves lance-shaped and toothed. Common in swamps and along brooks.
(A) Common White Daisy; Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) (European) is a naturalized, floral citizen. It is so common and has become so widespread that it is even better known than most of our common native flowers.
This Daisy needs no description. We have two very similar kinds differing in the shape of the leaves, one being more pinnatifid than the other. The one shown on the opposite page is the most common, a variety of leucanthemum called pinnatifidum. The other variety has the ends of the leaves rounded and finely toothed but not cut or slashed.
(B) Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium) (European) is found in some places in the East as an escape from gardens. The stem grows from 1 to 2 feet tall and is quite branching. The flowers are grouped in clusters; they are much smaller than those of the last species and have a comparatively broader disc of yellow florets. The leaves are broad, deeply pinnatifid, and each division further toothed or cut. It is locally naturalized from Mass. to N. J. and westward. It blooms from June until September, the same as does the last species.
(A) Yarrow; Milfoil (Achillea millefolium) is one of the most common of our wayside weeds.
The stem is stout, gray-green, usually simple, or forking near the top. The leaves, alternating along and clasping the stem, are soft and feathery—deeply and finely bipinnatifid.
The flowers grow in very compact, flat-topped clusters at the top of the stem. Each flower-head has a centre of short, tubular, yellowish florets that turn brown or grayish as they grow old; they are surrounded by from four to six round, white rays.
Yarrow is a very hardy plant; we may find it thriving beside roads where the dust has killed nearly ever other living thing. Its leaves have a strong, not unpleasant, aromatic odor.
(B) Mayweed; Chamomile (Anthemis Cotula) (European) is also a common weed found by the wayside in company with the last species. The stem is very branchy, 8 to 20 inches high. The leaves are very finely divided. The strong, unpleasant odor of the foliage will at once correct the impression that it may be a Daisy.
(A) Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) is a beautiful rather odd plant that brightens meadows and swamps during August and September. The stem is rather stout, smooth, and branching; it ascends from 2 to 6 feet. Alternating along the stem are numerous ovate, pointed, sharply toothed, bright green leaves.
It is the blossoms that attract our attention for, besides being very handsome, they are unusual in form. The hemispherical centre is composed of closely packed tubular florets and is surrounded by a number of broad, toothed, golden-yellow rays; the heads have an expanse of 1 to 2 inches. Both the tubular and the yellow pistillate rays are fertile.
(B) Tansy; Bitter Buttons (Tanacetum vulgare) (European) is abundant everywhere about houses and along roads, from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains.
The foliage is very bitter and is the foundation of many an old-fashioned remedy. The flowers grow in flat-topped clusters and are composed of round discs, or “buttons,” of tubular florets only. It is a species not to be mistaken; it has an appearance, an odor, and a taste of its own. It blooms from July until September.
(A) Golden Ragwort (Senecio aureus). In late March and early April, Ragwort shows simply a tuft of stemmed, heart-shaped leaves, resembling those of Violets. A little later a stem ascends from the perennial root; a slender, tough, angular, twisting stem that finally reaches heights of 1 to 3 feet. During May and June they carry at their summit a loose cluster of bright, orange-yellow flowers. Each flower is composed of but 8 to 12 narrow, orange-yellow rays, surrounding a central cluster of tubular florets of brownish orange.
The stem leaves are chiefly sessile, deeply cut or pinnatifid. Ragwort grows most abundantly and most luxuriantly in swamps or moist ground, but is also found in dry places or stony pastures. Its range extends from Newfoundland to Wisconsin and southward.
(B) Arnica (Arnica mollis). The slightly hairy stem grows from 1 to 2 feet tall. The basal leaves are long petioled but the stem ones are sessile and opposite, shallow-toothed. At the summit are one to nine flower-heads on slender peduncles. About the central disc are 10 to 14 yellow rays, each with three notches in their ends. Canada and the mountains of northern U. S.
Burdock (Arctium minus) (European) is a very common plant on waste ground, along roadsides and the edges of woods. The plant is often 4 feet or more high. The lower leaves are very large, often more than a foot in length, heart-shaped, deep green and finely veined above, grayish beneath because of the fine wool that covers the under surfaces. The upper leaves are smaller, more ovate in form, and less densely wooly on the undersides. The flower-heads grow in clusters at the ends of the branches. The involucre is almost spherical, composed of numerous bracts, each terminating in a sharp, hooked point. Tubular florets, only, are seated within this involucre; they are purple and white in color, and secrete an abundance of nectar on which account they are frequented by honey bees.
The present species adopts the policy of the Beggar-ticks, but instead of single seeds, it attaches the whole bur-like head by means of its numerous little hooks. They cling tenaciously to everything they touch; doubtless most of my readers recall massing these burs together to make castles, funny men, animals, etc.
Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) (European) is a small-flowered, perennial species that has strayed across the ocean and become a pernicious weed.
The stem is rather slender, branching, and grows from 1 to 3 feet in height. It grows from a perennial, creeping rootstalk, that is, as farmers have discovered, very difficult to eradicate from the soil. It grows in extensive colonies and, unless strenuous efforts are made to destroy them, they very soon take possession of a field to the exclusion of almost everything else.
The leaves, that grow alternately and closely together on the stem, are long, lance-shaped, deeply cut into sharply prickled lobes. Numerous flower-heads, about one inch across, terminate the branches. When in full bloom, the florets vary in color from rose-purple to white; the involucre is almost globular and covered with over-lapping bracts, each with a tiny, sharp, out-turned point.
All the thistles yield an abundance of nectar and are frequented by bees and butterflies.
Bull Thistle (Cirsium lanceolatum) is the thistle that we most often see in fields and pastures. It is one of the largest of the genus, its heads often measuring 3 inches across. The stem is stout and simple, and grows from 1 to 3 feet high; it is hairy and angular in section and grows from a biennial rootstalk.
The flower-heads are very large, 2 to 3½ inches across and usually solitary, although frequently two heads grow on the same stalk. The leaves are lance-shaped, green, clasping, rather hairy, pinnatifid and armed with short, stout prickles. Just below the flowers are several small bract-like leaves, also armed with sharp prickles. All this armor tends to discourage pilfering insects from crawling up the stem; should they persist and reach the large involucre, which is also armed, they will find that, in addition, it is slightly sticky, and presents an impenetrable barrier to their upward progress. This species is common from Me. to Del. and Pa. It blooms from July until September.
(A) Star Thistle (Centaurea nigra, var. radiata). The slender stein branches slightly and rises to heights of 1 to 2 feet, each branch bearing a solitary flower-head at the end. The flower-head has a round involucre of tawny, or dark brown, dry bracts; the florets are all tubular and rose-purple.
This species, which is introduced from Europe, grows in waste places and along roadsides from N. S. to Ontario and south to N. J. and Pa. It may be found in bloom from July until September.
(B) Chicory; Succory (Cichorium intybus) (European) has become thoroughly naturalized and is common in the eastern half of the United States, especially so near the coast.
The stem is stiff, tough, and angular in cross-section; it attains heights of from 1 to 3 feet. The leaves are long-lanceolate, dark gray-green and coarsely toothed. The flowers are very beautiful—a violet-blue, approaching a pure blue in color. There are at least two ranks of strap-shaped rays, the inner ones much shorter, all toothed at the ends. Succory blooms in dry situations from July until October.