Chapter IV: Preface (4)

The tubular yellow flowers have two-lipped corollas, the upper ones of two lobes and the lower of three, the centre of one which extends into a large sac-like spur and has a protruding, pouting, orange palate that closes the throat of the blossom. This arrangement is designed for the bumblebee, whose weight on the lower lip opens the flower so he can get at the nectar, while it is tightly closed to pilfering ants.

(A) Turtle-head (_Chelone glabra_). This is a moisture-loving plant found in swamps.

The stem is stout, smooth, and erect, from 1 to 3 feet tall. The leaves are lance-shaped, stemmed, pointed, and toothed. The flowers are clustered in a short spike at the summit of the stem, the corolla is tubular, about an inch in length, and is white, tinged with pink. The upper lip is broad, arched, creased and notched in the middle; the lower lip is three-lobed and wooly-bearded in the throat. Turtle-head blooms from July until September and ranges from Newfoundland to Manitoba and southward.

(B) Pentstemon; Beard-tongue (_Pentstemon hirsutus_) has a straight, slender wooly stem that grows from 1 to 3 feet high. The leaves are light-green, lance-shaped, rough-edged, or minutely toothed, the upper ones seated oppositely on the stem and the lower ones with short petioles. The small magenta-white flowers are in panicled racemes. The trumpet-shaped corolla has two lobes to the upper lip and three on the lower, the throat nearly closed by a hairy palate on the lower lip. Me. to Wisconsin and southward.

Monkey Flower (_Mimulus ringens_) is a perennial with a smooth, square, hollow stem growing from 1 to 3 feet in height and branching considerably. The leaves, seated oppositely on the stem, are lance-shaped, pointed, and slightly toothed. The flowers are few in number and are on long, slender pedicels from the axils of the upper leaves. They open one or two at a time. The pale-purple flowers have two large lips, the upper divided into two lobes and the lower one into three, all broad and wavy. Four white stamens and a pistil nearly fill the throat, at the mouth of which are two bright orange-yellow spots.

A small store of nectar is secreted in the base of the flower tube. The double-yellow palate serves to close the entrance to the tube so that small useless insects may not be allowed to partake of the sweets within. When, however, the burly bumblebee alights upon the lower lip, his weight causes it to droop and allow easy access to its meagre supply of nectar. Monkey Flower is found in wet places from N. B. to Manitoba and southward.

(A) American Brooklime (_Veronica americana_), the prettiest of the Speedwells or Veronicas, is a very frail plant.

The stem is stout, smooth, hollow, and quite weak; the lower part spreads over the ground and frequently takes root at the angles of the lower leaves. At intervals, branches rise to heights of 6 to 15 inches, bearing from the axils of the upper leaves small four-parted blue flowers in loose racemes. The light-blue petals have purple stripes and a white spot at the base.

Brooklime has a long season of bloom, being found in flower from May until September. It is common in moist ditches and along brooks or in swamps, from Newfoundland to Alaska and south to Va. and Mo.

(B) Common Speedwell (_Veronica officinalis_) is a popular little plant. The prostrate wooly stem is erect at the end and terminates in a raceme of pale-lavender, four-petalled flowers, the lower petal of which is conspicuously smaller than the other three, a common trait of this genus. Speedwell is quite common through the United States and southern Canada.

(A) Purple Gerardia (_Gerardia purpurea_) is a pretty little species that decorates low, moist, sandy fields and meadows with its beautiful purple-pink blossoms. The slender stem is quite branchy and averages about a foot in height, though it occasionally attains heights of 2 feet. From three to eight flowers, opening one at a time, grow along the ends of each branch. The corolla is broad and about 1 in. long, bright purplish pink, the mouth of the funnel spreading into five rounded lobes, spotted or downy within.

All the Gerardias and Foxgloves are quite parasitic, attaching their roots to those of other plants and getting part of their sustenance from them. This species is found chiefly along the coasts of the Atlantic, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico. It blooms from August to October.

(B) Smooth False Foxglove (_Gerardia virginica_) has a smooth, branching stem from 2 to 6 feet high. The large, lemon-yellow flowers measure nearly 2 inches long by an inch broad. The plant grows from Me. to Minn. and southward and blooms during August and Sept.

Scarlet Painted-cup; Indian Paint Brush (_Castilleja coccinea_). This singular species is a parasite-that is, it fastens its roots upon those of other plants and takes their nourishment from them.

The slender, hollow, reddish, angular, and hairy stem grows from a tuft of smooth-edged, oblong leaves. The stem leaves are rather small and, the upper ones especially, have the ends three-lobed; those near and surrounding the flowers have their ends scarlet, as though they had been dipped in a pot of red paint. The flower’s corolla is almost concealed in the two-lobed cylindrical calyx, the end of which is usually a brilliant scarlet. The corolla is irregular, greenish yellow, with a narrow upper lip and a three-lobed lower one. They have, set in the upper lip, four unequal stamens and a long pistil.

The Scarlet Painted-cup is found in low, sandy ground from Mass. to Manitoba and southward.

Wood Betony; Lousewort (_Pedicularis canadensis_) is a peculiar plant that we find in dry woods and thickets and often along roadsides.

The flowering stems are stout, hairy, and leafy; they rise to heights of 6 to 18 inches. The leaves are all fernlike in form; many of them rise on long, hairy stems from the roots and smaller ones alternate up the flower stalk. The flower spike is short and densely flowered and contains many small bract-like leaves among the tubular flowers. The corolla is composed of two lips, the upper one being arched and strongly curved or hooked at the tip. The upper lip varies from a yellowish green in freshly opened flowers to a dull reddish on the mature blossoms, this latter being the beefsteak color alluded to in one of its common names.

Wood Betony is found from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and southward. It is quite abundant throughout its range and its flowers may be found from early May into the latter part of July.

BROOM-RAPE FAMILY
(_Orobanchaceæ_)

(A) One-flowered Cancer-root; Broom-rape (_Orobanche uniflora_) is an attractive little parasite with a subterranean scaly stem, each branch sending up one to four very slender stalks from 3 to 6 inches high and bearing at the top a single blossom each.

Their color varies from a pale purple to a cream color and they average about three quarters of an inch in length. It is found in moist woods throughout the United States and southern Canada.

(B) Beech Drops; Cancer-root (_Epifagus virginiana_). This peculiar growth is found almost exclusively in beech woods.

The stem attains heights of 6 to 20 inches. At the ends of the branches are a number of curved, tubular flowers; these are stained a dull magenta.

Beech Drops attaches its roots to those of beech trees and gets all its sustenance from them. It blooms form August to Oct. and ranges from N. B. to Minn. and southward.

BIGNONIA FAMILY
(_Bignoniaceæ_)

Trumpet Creeper (_Tecoma radicans_) is an exceedingly beautiful woody vine having a southern disposition.

The stem grows from 20 to 40 feet long and is either prostrate or climbing. Sometimes it extends over the ground, climbing over the bushes that may be in its path, and again it may take an upward course and climb the trunks and branches of small trees. As it is a hardy plant it is often seen in cultivation and is used to decorate porches in the North.

The flowers are trumpet-shaped, red within and tawny or orange on the outside of the tube. They grow in terminal clusters of two to nine blossoms, each in a cup-shaped, two-parted calyx. The corolla is about 2½ inches long and flares into five rounded lobes. Four anther-bearing stamens and a pistil are in the upper part of the tube. The leaves grow oppositely on the stem and are each composed of 7 to 11 ovate, toothed leaflets. We find this vine from N. J. to Ia. and southward.

PLANTAIN FAMILY
(_Plantaginaceæ_)

(A) Common Plantain (_Plantago major_) is a very familiar weed about ill-kept dooryards. The leaves are large and spreading; broad-oblong, on long, troughed stems that radiate from the root.

The flower stalk rises to about the same height as the next, but the flower-head is very long. The tiny white flowers open in circles about this head, slowly making their way toward the top in their succession of bloom, which lasts from June until September.

(B) English Plantain (_Plantago lanceolata_). The leaves all radiate from the base; they are lanceolate, sharply pointed, and set on long, troughed stems.

The flower stem is stiff and smooth and attains heights of 6 to 18 inches. The head is short and studded with tiny, four-parted, dull-white flowers, with long, slender stamens. There are often perfect staminate and pistillate flowers on the same plant. It is now as abundant in all parts of our range as it is in its native European home.

MADDER FAMILY
(_Rublaceæ_)

(A) Bluets; Innocence (_Houstonia cærulea_). These are very dainty and beautiful little plants that decorate our fields profusely from April until July. The stems are very slender, about 3 to 6 inches tall, and have a few pairs of tiny leaves; larger leaves appear in tufts from the base. The perianth is slender and the lobes flare widely; the corolla is about one half inch in width, white, with the ends of the lobes pale blue or violet, and stained with yellow toward the centre of the flower.

(B) Partridgeberry (_Mitchella repens_) is a most beautiful little trailing vine with rounded, opposite, white-veined leaves along the creeping stem, that extends 6 to 12 inches from the root. Two beautiful little four-parted, bell-shaped flowers terminate each branch. They are downy white within, and pinkish and smooth on the outside. They have a fragrance similar to that of the Water Lily. A double red berry replaces the flowers in fall. It is common in woods throughout our range.

HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY
(_Caprifoliaceæ_)

(A) Bush Honeysuckle (_Lonicera canadensis_) is a bush or shrub with thin, straggling, brown branches, attaining heights of 2 to 4 feet. The leaves are thin, light green, somewhat heart-shaped and short stemmed. They grow oppositely on the branches and have small stipules between them. The flowers are borne in pairs from the axils of the terminal leaves. The Naples yellow tubes are about three fourths of an inch in length and have five lobes. This species is common from Quebec to Manitoba and south to Pa. and Mich.

(B) Twinflower (_Linnæa borealis americana_) is one of the most delicately beautiful of our wild flowers. The stem is slender, trailing, reddish brown, and from 6 to 24 inches long; at intervals very slender, leafy flower stalks rise, bearing at the end two pendulous, bell-shaped, white, fragrant blossoms; the corolla, which has five lobes, is crimson-pink within. The evergreen leaves are short stemmed, almost round, and scallop-toothed. Cool, mossy woods from Lab. to Minn.

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.

BLUEBELL FAMILY
(_Campanulaceæ_)

(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.

LOBELIA FAMILY
(_Lobeliaceæ_)

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.

COMPOSITE FAMILY
(_Compositæ_)

(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.

GOLDEN-RODS
Genus (_Solidago_)

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 ASTERS
Genus (_Aster_)

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.

(A) Fall Dandelion (_Leontodon autumnalis_) (European) is a small dandelion, naturalized from Europe and common in the Eastern States during fall, or from the latter part of July. The leaves, tufted at the base of the flower scape, are long and narrow and have blunt teeth. The flower scape is long and slender and usually forks near the summit, bearing two or three flower-heads, rarely only one; the scape attains heights of 7 to 18 inches. The flower stalk is not hollow like that of the common dandelion, but is solid. It grows in fields and along roadsides and is quite common from Newfoundland to Mich. and south to Pa.

(B) Dwarf Dandelion; Cynthia (_Krigia virginica_) is a tiny little plant as compared to the common dandelion. The leaves are all basal on rather long petioles; they are coarsely and sharply, or laciniately, toothed. Numerous unbranching, slender flower scapes rise from these tufts of basal leaves, each bearing at the summit a little golden-rayed flower resembling a dandelion.

Cynthia is a very common native species and is found blooming from April until July in dry fields, open wilds, or sandy soil, from southern Canada to the Gulf.

(A) Common Dandelion (_Taraxacum officinale_) although an immigrant to our land, has extended its range from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and is as well, or better known, as any other wild flower that we have. As every one knows its green, jagged leaves form a staple article of food and can be purchased in markets in spring at so much per peck. This species, with its large, flat, rosette of leaves and bright sunny flowers needs no description; it is well shown on the accompanying plate. All parts contain a bitter milky juice that exudes freely whenever the plant is broken.

The dandelion blooms most abundantly during the spring months but may be also found during every other month, even in winter. The name dandelion, of course, refers to the jagged edge of the leaves.

(B) Red-seeded Dandelion (_Taraxacum erythrospermum_) is a smaller species, also European, with more deeply cut leaves (pinnatifid) and with reddish-brown seeds, whereas those of the preceding species are usually olive-green. Common in dry fields from Me. to Pa. and westward to the Mississippi.

(A) Sow Thistle (_Sonchus oleraceus_) (European). This species is not a real thistle at all and the name “Sow” is applied rather as a term of derision, signifying spurious or worthless.

The stem is stout, smooth, grooved, hollow, and succulent; it attains heights of 1 to 6 feet. The leaves are shaped more like those of the dandelion than a thistle, but are armed with soft spikes. The small, thistle-like flower-heads are light yellow; they grow in loose clusters, terminating the branches.

(B) Wild Lettuce (_Lactuca canadensis_) is one of the rankest-growing of our native plants. The milky-juiced, branching, smooth stem ranges in heights from 3 to 10 feet. The leaves are all very angular, cut, toothed, and gouged in all manner of forms. Those near the base of the stem are very large, often attaining lengths of more than a foot. They become smaller and less deeply lobed as they mount the stem, the upper, small ones being almost entire edged. The small, yellow-rayed flowers are numerous but uninteresting. At maturity they are succeeded by silky beards of down, proceeding from the deep vase-like involucres.

(A) Rattlesnake-weed (_Hieracium venosum_) is commonly found in dry sandy places and in open woods. It can readily be recognized by the tuft of spatulate leaves spreading from the root, each leaf having strong veinings of purple.

A solitary stem, branching slightly at the top, grows from the centre of the tuft of leaves. The flower-heads are composed of bright, golden-yellow rays seated in a rather deep involucre; they resemble little dandelions but the rays are fewer in number. Rattlesnake-weed blooms from June until September and ranges from Me. to Minn. and southward to Ga.

(B) Canada Hawkweed (_Hieracium canadense_) is a smooth, slender, leafy-stemmed species. Besides the large, spreading, basal ones, the stem is alternately set with stemless, lance-shaped, sharply toothed, light green leaves. The flowers are practically like those of the last species. In October, they are replaced by little brownish globes of down. Canada Hawkweed is common on the borders of woods from Newfoundland to British Columbia south to N. J., Mich., and Oregon. It blooms from July until September.

KEYS TO FLOWERS BY COLOR

The flowers are grouped under their most conspicuous colors, the ones the novice would be most apt to call them. As far as possible the smallest flowers are placed first in each section.

WHITE AS THE CHIEF FLOWER-COLOR

False Spikenard—Tiny; clustered 32
False Solomon’s Seal—3 leaves on stalk 33
Meadow Rue—Filmy cluster; 3-lobed leaves 69
Sundew—Raceme; leaves hairy, basal 81
Saxifrage—Cluster; 5 petals; basal leaves 82
Mitrewort—Raceme; 5 petals; crystal-like 83
Foam Flower—Feathery spike; leaves basal 83
Meadowsweet—Spike-like cluster 84
White Clover—Triple leaves; round heads 95
Ginseng—Umbel; 3 compound leaves 121
Wild Carrot—Flat cluster; divided leaves 122
Catnip—Small clusters; aromatic 154
Rattlesnake Plantain—Tubular, spiked 55
Ladies’ Tresses—Spiral spike; tubular 55
Checkerberry—Tubular, pendent; evergreen 131
Partridgeberry—In pairs, 4-lobed 170
Violet—5 petals, lower large, veined 115
Star-of-Bethlehem—Umbel; grasslike leaves 41
Dutchman’s Breeches—2 sac-like spurs 77
Squirrel Corn—Tubular, heart-shaped 77
Toothwort—4 petals; 2 compound leaves 78
Star Flower—Above whorl of leaves 137
Bladder Campion—5 petals; inflated calyx 62
Evening Lychnis—5 notched petals 62
Anemone—5-6 sepals; delicate low herbs 70
Pipsissewa—Cluster; 5 waxy petals 124
Shin-leaf—Raceme; 5 waxy petals 125
Indian Pipe—Cold, clammy white; no green 125
Turtle-head—Tubular, 2-lipped; spiked 161
Cornel—4-parted involucre. Low herb 123
Bloodroot—Solitary; 6-10 petals 75
Mandrake—Solitary; 6 petals; large leaves 74
Fringed Orchis—Showy spike; lip fringed 50
Trillium—3 petals, 3 sepals; 3 leaves 38
Arrow-heads—Aquatic; 3 petals 19
Water Arum—Aquatic; large white spathe 21
Grass of Parnassus—5 petals, green-veined 82
Azalea—Shrub; tubular, 5 spreading lobes 126
Laurel—Clustered, saucer-shaped; shrub 129
Atamasco Lily—Erect, 6-parted; solitary 41
Lady’s Slipper—Large, white, slipper-shaped 46
Dogwood—Shrub or tree; 4-parted involucre 123
Water Lily—Floating, numerous petals 66

BLUE AS THE CHIEF FLOWER-COLOR