[Illustration: PRAIRIE LACE]
Furrowed stems; leaves usually much divided, sheathing at the base;
sepals 5, calyx tube joined to ovary; petals 5; stamens 5; ovary
inferior; fruit 2-celled, prominently ribbed and often with resin
canals.
Prairie Lace. Dwarf Queen Anne’s Lace (_Bifora americana_) is the pride
of the North Texas prairie in late April and May. It is also found in
Oklahoma and Arkansas. In favorable seasons it grows in great masses
with the Indian blankets and the false coreopsis. The umbrella-clusters
of white flowers are very showy. The plants do not have oil tubes, as do
most members of the carrot family, and so lack the strong scent common
to many.
It usually grows about a foot high and is widely branched at the top.
The leaves are finely divided with numerous thread-like divisions. The
flowers are one-fourth inch broad and have five notched petals which are
broader than long. The fruits have two ball-shaped divisions, each about
one-eighth inch in diameter and faintly ridged.
[Illustration: FALSE PURPLE THISTLE. ERYNGO]
False Purple Thistle. Eryngo (_Eryngium leavenworthii_) is not a true
thistle, but it is popularly known as one. The ancient Greeks had the
same idea, for the name “Eryngium” is their name for a kind of thistle.
Correctly speaking it is a purple carrot, as it belongs to a large group
of the carrot family, some of which are widely cultivated abroad for
their striking purple foliage. The flowers are clustered in an oblong
head, quite different from the dainty flower clusters of Queen Anne’s
lace. Other common names of this group include sea-holly, rattlesnake
master, and button snake-root, the two latter from their accredited
property of curing snake-bites. Candelabrum plant is a name sometimes
given which is very appropriate because of its branching habit of
growth.
The plants grow one to three feet high, usually in dense masses along
roadsides and fields and on prairies from Central Texas to Kansas. In
August the gray-green foliage of the plants is quite conspicuous against
darker greens, but it gradually takes on a royal purple hue. Few plants
can rival it for beauty in late August and September. The dense heads of
purple flowers with their long, slender dark-blue stamens add to the
vividness. The dried plants are often kept for winter decoration, but
the purple does not remain so intense.
The stems are branched at the top, the flower heads growing on short
stalks in the forks of the branches. The deeply lobed leaves clasp the
stem, the leaf segments bearing many spiny-teeth. A tuft of small,
rigid, spiny leaves grows out of the top of the flower head.
Several eryngoes are found in the state. The yucca-leaved eryngo
(_Eryngium aquaticum_) grows in the summer in sandy areas or low grounds
from Texas to Minnesota and Connecticut. It bears little resemblance in
habit of growth or coloring to the purple thistle. Most of the long
leaves are clustered at the base, and a stout flower stalk bears at the
top several head-like clusters of white flowers.
The carrot family is a large group of plants, most of which have lacy,
fern-like leaves and dainty umbrella-clusters of small flowers and fruit
which separates into two ribbed 1-seeded divisions. The plants are
usually rich in oil tubes, and some contain deadly poisons.
[Illustration: BEGGAR’S TICKS]
Beggar’s Ticks. Seed-Ticks. Bird’s Nest Carrot (_Daucus pusillus_) is
probably more familiar in fruit than in flower. The clusters of seeds
resemble a bird’s nest. The fact that the seeds are covered with several
rows of barbed prickles makes them very difficult to remove from
clothing. Their presence in wool renders it inferior in quality. It is
very abundant throughout the state from April to June and occurs in most
of the Southern and Western States.
The small white flowers grow in a dense, lace-like cluster at the top of
slender stems 1-2 ft. high. The leaves are finely divided. The flower
cluster is long-stalked and is surrounded by a circle of the green
leaves; thus the flowers as well as the seeds have a nest-like
appearance.
Wild Carrot. Queen Anne’s Lace (_Daucus carota_), the ancestor of the
garden carrot, was introduced from Europe and may be found in scattered
places over the state. It is a larger plant than the beggar’s ticks,
with very wide-spreading and dainty flower clusters. It does not bloom
until summer.
[Illustration: WILD DILL]
Wild Dill. Prairie Parsley (_Pleiotaenia nuttallii_) is a conspicuous
plant on prairies throughout the state and ranges to Michigan and
Alabama. The flowers bloom in April and May, and the seeds mature and
fall in June and July. The stiff, stout stems, commonly two feet high,
become dry and brown but remain standing through the winter months. The
upper leaves are not divided so much as the lower, which are deeply
divided and have broad segments. The flowers are small and
greenish-yellow and grow in clusters about 2 inches broad.
The foliage and seeds were used for seasoning by pioneers. It is very
much like the cultivated dill (_Anethum graveolens_), a native of
Southeastern Europe. The latter is taller and has leaves with threadlike
divisions.
Other well-known members of the carrot family include the parsnip,
parsley, myrrh, chervil, caraway, and celery. The well-known poison
hemlock (_Conium maculatum_), by which Socrates met his death, is a
native of Europe but may now be found in North and South America. It
grows in great abundance along the streams of the Edwards Plateau
between Fredricksburg and Austin.