What appears like a single large blossom seated almost within the whorl

of leaves is in reality a cluster of tiny, green-petalled, four-parted

flowers surrounded by four large greenish-white bracts. It ranges from

Labrador to Alaska south to N. J., Ind., and Minn.

[Illustration: ]

HEATH FAMILY

(_Ericaceæ_)

(A) Spotted Wintergreen (_Chimaphila maculata_) is a very handsome plant

that we often come across in our rambles through rich woodland. The

stalk, rising from 3 to 9 inches high, is of a ruddy color; the leaves

are thick, smooth, irregularly toothed, lance-shaped, pointed, and with

conspicuous whitish streaks following the veins. In July and August it

bears one to five nodding flowers on long, erect peduncles above the

topmost whorl of leaves. It ranges from Me., Ontario, and Minn. southward

to Ga. and Miss.

(B) Pipsissewa; Prince’s Pine (_Chimaphila umbellata_) grows in similar

localities and is generally more common than the last. Its leaves are

usually in two whorls about the brownish stem; they are bright shining

green, toothed, unspotted, pointed, but broadened toward the end. The

flowers are similar to the last and are in a loose 2- to 8-flowered

umbel. The style is very short, with a five-parted gummy stigma. This

species is found from N. S. to Ga. and westward.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Shin-leaf (_Pyrola elliptica_) is the most common of the Pyrolas. The

evergreen leaves are bright green, obscurely toothed, broadly elliptical

and narrowing into long stems that clasp at the base. During May a long,

smooth scape springs from the middle of the group of basal leaves to a

height of 5 to 10 inches, bearing near its top a raceme of several

flowers. It is common throughout the United States and southern Canada.

(B) One-flowered Pyrola (_Moneses uniflora_) externally closely resembles

the preceding species. The flower scape is from 2 to 5 inches high, and

at the summit bears, during June or July, a single nodding flower. It

ranges from Labrador to Alaska and south to Pa. and Minn.

(C) Indian Pipe; Corpse Plant (_Monotropa uniflora_) is a very peculiar,

ghostly appearing plant found commonly in dimly lighted rich woods. It

has no green foliage, just white bract-like appendages on its upright,

white, cold, clammy stem. A single white flower nods from the top. It is

parasitic, drawing its nourishment from living roots or decaying

vegetable matter. Common throughout our range.

[Illustration: ]

Swamp Honeysuckle; White Azalea (_Rhododendron viscosum_) is a most

beautiful swamp shrub with handsome, fragrant, white flowers. In low, wet

swamps it is very common and blooms very profusely during June and July.

The bush is from 3 to 8 feet in height and very branchy. The leaves are

long-oval, broadest toward the blunt-pointed tip and narrowing to short

stems.

The beautiful flowers are pure white, or rarely tinged with pink; the

tube of the long corolla is covered with very sticky brownish hairs, and

terminates in five, large-pointed spreading lobes. The stamens are very

long, slender, and white, and tipped with yellow anthers. The

five-pointed calyx is very small and inconspicuous.

During the early time of their bloom all the Azaleas bear hanging among

the fragrant flowers, peculiar, juicy, pulpy growths that are edible, as

any well-bred farmer’s boy knows; he calls them May or Swamp Apples, but

they are really modified buds and not fungous growths or caused by

insects, as was formerly believed. These beautiful Azaleas are found from

Me. to Ohio and southward.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Pink Azalea; Pinxter Flower; Wild Honeysuckle (_Rhododendron

nudiflorum_) is one of our most interesting wild shrubs, interesting

because the flowers bloom before the leaves appear, or just as they

commence to grow, and because of the very beautiful colors its pink

flowers impart to our swamps during April and early May. The flowers are

practically the same in form as the white varieties, except that the

corolla tube is shorter.

Pink Azalea grows in open woods or swamps from Me. to Ill. and southward.

(B) Rhodora (_Rhododendron canadense_) is a beautiful member of this

family, immortalized in verse by Emerson. It is a smaller shrub, growing

from 1 to 3 feet high. The flowers usually appear before the pale-green,

oblong leaves; the corolla is about one inch long, light magenta, and

two-lipped. The upper lip is three-lobed and the lower is nearly divided

into two distinct linear petals. They grow in thin clusters terminating

the branches. Rhodora is found on damp hillsides and in swamps from

Newfoundland to Quebec and south to N. J. and Pa., flowering during May

and June.

[Illustration: ]

American Rhododendron; Great Laurel (_Rhododendron maximum_) is a large,

tall, and very ornamental shrub growing from 5 to 35 feet high. It is one

of the most characteristic shrubs of the Alleghany Mountain region, where

it grows in such profusion as to form almost impenetrable thickets. As it

is a very hardy shrub and not injured by transplanting, it is very often

used for decorative effects in parks and about private dwellings.

The oblong leaves are deep, glossy green, tough and leathery in texture,

and have a smooth, slightly rolled-under edge. They droop in the winter

season but are widespread in summer.

At the ends of the numerous branches, during June and July, are showy

clusters of pink or white flowers. Each blossom spreads nearly two inches

and is composed of five broad, blunt-ended petals of a pink-white color

spotted with golden-orange. They have ten spreading stamens and a small

pistil.

Rhododendron is found in rich, hilly, or mountainous woods, commonly from

Pa. to Ga. but rarely northward to Ontario and Nova Scotia.

[Illustration: ]

Mountain Laurel; Spoon-wood (_Kalmia latifolia_) is one of the most

popular of our beautiful flowering shrubs. In the North it grows from 3

to 8 feet in height, but in the Southern States it often attains heights

of 20 to 30 feet.

The leaves are dark, glossy green, pointed at each end and oblong in

shape; they are arranged alternately along the branches and in dense

terminal clusters. The flowers are very peculiar in their construction,

the corolla being deep saucer- or bowl-shaped, with five short, broad

lobes; on the outside, around the bottom edge of the “bowl,” are ten

small humps, that inside the corolla form little pockets to receive the

anthers of the slender white stamens, curving from the centre of the

blossom like the spokes of a wheel.

Both moths and bees visit these flowers in quest of the little supply of

nectar that is secreted about the base of the greenish pistil. The flower

stems are sticky so that only winged insects can get to the interior.

Laurel is common from N. B. to Ont. and southward.

[Illustration: ]

Sheep Laurel; Lambkill (_Kalmia angustifolia_) is a small, shrubby

species, ranging from 8 to 36 inches high. Besides the common names given

above, it is less often known as “Sheep Poison” and “Wicky,” a rather

sinister lot of names to be applied to a shrub with such handsome

flowers.

All of the Laurels have dangerous properties, the juices of the leaves

being very poisonous. It is also claimed that honey made by bees feeding

on the nectar from Laurel blossoms is also poisonous. This species gets

its many names, referring to its destructive effects on sheep, because it

grows in abundance in pastures suitable only for the pasturage of sheep.

The leaves of this small Laurel look tempting but are often very fatal to

the animals eating them.

Their shapes, forms, and mechanisms are about like those of the Mountain

Laurel, but the color is a beautiful, deep pink; little red anthers fit

snugly in the ten little pockets formed for them in the surface of the

corolla. Sheep Laurel is common from Lab. to Ont. and southward, blooming

in June and July.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Wintergreen; Checkerberry (_Gaultheria procumbens_). I doubt if there

is a country boy or girl within the range of this plant, and it extends

from Newfoundland to Manitoba and southward to the Gulf, who is not

perfectly familiar with it.

The leaves are all clustered at the top of the ruddy stem that grows from

2 to 5 inches high; those of adult plants are deep, shining green,

ovate-pointed, and very sparingly toothed. Usually two white tubular,

5-notched flowers hang on slender peduncles, just beneath the spreading

leaves, during July and August.

(B) Trailing Arbutus; Mayflower (_Epigæa repens_). Arbutus is a creeping

plant; the stems are tough, hairy, and branched; they spread out along

the ground for 6 to 15 inches from the root. The evergreen, alternating

leaves are tough, oval, slightly heart-shaped at the base, net-veined and

toothless. The flowers are in terminal clusters, opening in April and

May. They are five-parted, delicate pink, and have a fragrance similar to

that of the Water Lily. Arbutus grows throughout the eastern half of our

continent on shady, rocky hillsides.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Labrador Tea (_Ledum grœnlandicum_) is an erect shrub growing from 1

to 3 feet high. It is not uncommon in suitable places in the eastern half

of Canada, and is found rarely in mountains south to Conn., Pa., and

Minn.; its habitat is in bogs or damp thickets. The narrowly oblong

leaves are green above, have the edges rolled back, and are covered

beneath with a rusty wool.

DIAPENSIA FAMILY

(_Diapensiaceæ_)

(B) Pyxie; Flowering Moss (_Pyxidanthera barbulata_). Pyxie is a very

attractive moss-like shrub found commonly growing in the pine barrens of

the Southeastern States, from N. J. to N. C. The branches are prostrate

and creep along the ground for 6 to 10 inches from the roots.

Each branch is very thickly set with tiny, stiff, lance-shaped leaves

less than half an inch in length. The numerous tiny white or pink flowers

are seated on the stem, growing from the angles of the leaves; they have

five broad-ended petals and attached between each of them is a curious,

short, stout stamen.

[Illustration: ]

LEADWORT FAMILY

(_Plumbaginaceæ_)

Seaside plants with perfect, regular flowers in one-sided racemes or

spikes; five-parted and with plaited calyx.

Marsh Rosemary; Sea Lavender (_Limonium carolinianum_) is a very

characteristic plant of the seashore; it is found very commonly in salt

marshes along the Atlantic Coast from Labrador to Florida, and along the

Gulf of Texas.

The plant has a thick, woody, very astringent root, from which grows a

single naked stalk. This stem divides into numerous branches and

branchlets, all destitute of leaves and spreading out so that the

appearance of the whole plant is that of a very diminutive tree. The

leaves all radiate from the root at the base of the flower stalk; they

are spatulate-shaped, thick, almost smooth-edged, and are on long stems.

At the end of each branchlet is a slender one-sided raceme of tiny buds.

From July until September these open out into tiny lavender flowers with

five tiny petals, each coming from a five-toothed, ribbed calyx.

[Illustration: ]

PRIMROSE FAMILY

_Primulaceæ_

(A) Yellow Loosestrife (_Lysimachia terrestris_). Yellow Loosestrife has

a tall, slender, simple stem from 8 to 24 inches high. The leaves are

pointed-lanceolate, stemless, and crowded along the stem, either

oppositely or alternately. The flower spike is long and contains many

buds on slender pedicels; they open from the bottom of the spike upward.

Each flower has five-pointed golden-yellow petals, each with two small

reddish-brown spots near the base; the stamens and pistil project in a

cone-like cluster. This Loosestrife is abundant from Newfoundland to

Hudson Bay and southward.

(B) Four-leaved Loosestrife (_Lysimachia quadrifolia_) is a very common

species found in low land in about the same range. The flowers are very

similar but each petal has a single large spot of reddish-brown at its

base instead of a double one; the flowers appear from the axils of the

upper leaves. The pointed, lanceolate leaves are whorled about the stem

usually in groups of fours, occasionally more or less.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Shooting Star; American Cowslip (_Dodecatheon Meadia_) is a western

species that grows in open woodlands and on prairies from Pa. to Md. to

Manitoba and southward through the Mississippi Valley.

The leaves are all in a tuft radiating from the base; they are oblong,

bluntly pointed, and taper into trough-like stems. From the centre of

this cluster of leaves rises a bare flower stalk, 8 to 20 inches tall,

branching at the summit into several slender, curving peduncles, each

supporting a single nodding flower.

The stamens project from the throat of the flower, the five golden

anthers forming a conspicuous cone. Shooting Star blooms in April and

May.

(B) Moneywort; Myrtle (_Lysimachia Nummularia_) (European) is a very

dainty and beautiful trailing or creeping vine, often spreading over

large surfaces of ground. It is a most beautiful plant for rockeries and

does well in the house in hanging pots. The leaves, that grow oppositely

all along the stem, are almost round; it is from their shape and the fact

that they are about the size of the English twopence that they originally

received the name of Moneywort.

[Illustration: ]

Fringed Loosestrife (_Steironema ciliatum_). Fringed Loosestrife is a

very branching herb not at all like the other varieties. The smooth stem

rises to heights of from 12 to 24 inches. The species receives its

specific name Fringed (_ciliatum_) because of the fine hairs on the upper

side of the leaf stems, the rest of the plant being smooth.

The smooth light-green leaves are lance-shaped and pointed on short

petioles or stems growing oppositely on the plant stem. The flowers grow

on slender pedicles from the axils of the terminal leaves; the

golden-yellow corolla is divided into five ovate lobes, each terminating

in a sharp, twisted, or mucronate point; round the centre of the corolla

is a reddish-brown ring, formed by the small spots at the bases of the

five lobes. The pale-green pistil in the centre is surrounded by ten

stamens, five being fertile and the other alternating ones being

abortive.

Fringed Loosestrife is common in low ground and thickets from

Newfoundland to British Columbia southward to the Gulf of Mexico.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Star Flower (_Trientalis americana_) is a very dainty little plant

often called the “Star Anemone.”

The perennial rootstalk is long and horizontal and throws up a single,

smooth, slender stalk from 3 to 9 inches high; at the top of this stalk

is a whorl of from five to ten thin, smooth, veiny light-green leaves;

they are lance-shaped and sharply pointed. During May and June a solitary

blossom (rarely two) appears above the whorl of leaves on a very slender

pedicel. The delicate white petals are sharply pointed and range from six

to eight in number. The Star Flower is found in thin woodland from

Labrador to Manitoba and south to Va., Ill., and Minn.

(B) Pimpernel; Poor Man’s Weather-glass (_Anagallis arvensis_) (European)

is a flower readily identified; in the first place there are very few red

flowers to be found and no others with the shade of red of this one, a

salmon or coppery-red. The square stem is smooth, slender, and rather

weak, often lying prostrate on the ground. It is found in waste, sandy

places especially near the coast.

[Illustration: ]

LOGANIA FAMILY

(_Loganiaceæ_)

(A) Yellow False Jessamine (_Gelsemium sempervirens_). This beautiful

vine is very common in the Southern States where it may be found climbing

the trunks of trees, trailing over bushes, or even creeping over the

ground. During March and April large, handsome yellow flowers appear in

one-sided spikes. The blossoms are tubular-funnel form and range from 1

to 2 inches in length.

The ovate-pointed leaves, that grow oppositely on short petioles, are

evergreen; the short flower spikes grow from their axils. The stem is

smooth, woody, and twining. This species ranges from Va. to Fla. and

Texas.

(B) Indian Pink; Pink-root (_Spigelia marilandica_) is an erect herb

found in rich woods from Ohio and Ky. to Fla. and Texas. It is a

perennial with a simple stem rising from 1 to 2 feet high. The flowers

grow in a short, one-sided spike; the corolla is tubular-funnel form,

five-lobed at the end, and about 1 or 2 inches in length.

[Illustration: ]

GENTIAN FAMILY

(_Gentianaceæ_)

(A) Rose Pink (_Sabatia angularis_) is the most widely distributed of the

Sabbatias. Whereas the rest of the tribe are confined in a range very

close to the seacoast, this species is commonly found in rich ground in

all the states from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic. Its period of

bloom is during July and August.

The ovate-lanceolate leaves are stemless and seated oppositely on the

stem. The branches usually divide near their ends, each division bearing

a beautiful flower about an inch across. At the centre of the

five-parted, pink corolla is a yellow-green star, a feature that is quite

characteristic with members of this family.

(B) Sea Pink (_Sabatia stellaris_) is a beautiful, slender species common

on salt marshes from Me. to Fla. The pink flowers grow singly at the ends

of the slender branches. Like that of the last species, the centre is

yellow-green but is often edged with a deep crimson which adds greatly to

the attractiveness of the blossom.

[Illustration: ]

Large Marsh Pink; Sabbatia (_Sabatia dodecandra_) is the largest-flowered

and the most beautiful species of this genus; in fact, it is one of the

most delicately beautiful of our wild flowers.

During July and August, along the Atlantic Coast, we sometimes find

brackish ponds, the shores and muddy flats of which have a ruddy glow

owing to the number of these large, attractive blossoms that appear. The

stems are slender and wiry, and but little branched; they attain heights

of 1 to 2 feet, each branch bearing usually but a single blossom.

The flowers measure from 2 to 2½ inches across; the nine to twelve petals

are a delicate rose color and each has, at its base, a yellow-green spot

margined by a three-pointed ochre or crimson border. The corolla has a

regular, symmetrical wheel-like appearance, the petals making the spokes

and the yellow centre forming the hub. The calyx is composed of linear

sepals to the same number as the petals. The stamens are quite widely

separated from the slender style, so that self-fertilization is hardly to

be expected.

[Illustration: ]

Fringed Gentian (_Gentiana crinita_), because of its exquisite beauty and

comparative rarity, is one of the most highly prized of our wild flowers.

The stem is stout, stiff, and branching, each branch being erect and

terminating in a bud. The yellow-green leaves are ovate-lanceolate,

seated oppositely on the stem.

The calyx is angular, has four sharp points and is a bronze-green in

color. During September and October we may find these blossoms fully

expanded, delicate, vase-shaped creations with four spreading deeply

fringed lobes bearing no resemblance in shape or form to any other

American species. The color is a violet-blue, the color that is most

attractive to bumblebees, and it is to these insects that the flower is

indebted for the setting of its seed. The anthers mature before the

stigma is developed so that self-fertilization is impossible. The flowers

are wide open only during sunshine, furling in their peculiar twisted

manner on cloudy days and at night. In moist woods from Me. to Minn. and

southward.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Downy Gentian (_Gentiana puberula_) is a handsome species springing

from a perennial root, the simple, straight stem rising from 8 to 18

inches high; the stem is usually rough and slightly hairy. The

light-green leaves are stiff and seated oppositely on the stem. The

flowers are borne in terminal clusters or, sometimes, from the axils of

the upper leaves; they are bell-shaped with five triangular, slightly

spreading lobes. In color they are brilliant violet-blue.

Downy Gentian is common in dry fields and on prairies from Pa. to Ga. and

west to Minn. and Mo., flowering during September and October.

(B) Solitary Gentian (_Gentiana Porphyrio_) is a pretty little species

growing in moist places from southern N. J. to Fla. The simple, slender

stem ranges in height from 6 to 15 inches and bears at the summit a

solitary, erect, bell-shaped flower, of a light ultramarine blue color;

the five spreading lobes are notched at their bases. The flower is very

large compared to the stem and leaves of the plant it grows upon; the

blossom measures from 2 to 2½ inches long, which is about the length of

the linear leaves.

[Illustration: ]

Closed Gentian; Bottle Gentian (_Gentiana Andrewsii_) is the most

abundant of all Gentians. The flowers are as peculiar in their way as

those of the Fringed are in theirs. It is remarkable because the five

parts of the corolla never spread; the flower remains closed. The flowers

are cross-fertilized by the common bumblebee. He knows there is a supply

of nectar at the bottom of each blossom and he has the wits and the

strength to get at it. Slowly but surely he is able to force the closed

lobes apart until his body is half concealed in the “bottle”, and he is

able to reach the bottom. As he leaves the flower he is certain to scrape

off quantities of pollen on his head and almost sure to leave some of it

on the receptive stigma of the next flower visited.

The stem is smooth and simple; it grows from 1 to 2 feet high. The leaves

are rather large ovate-pointed, and narrowed into very short, clasping

stems. The flowers grow in terminal clusters, set in the axils of the

last pairs of leaves. Closed Gentian grows in moist places, often along

brooks, from Me. to Manitoba and southward.

[Illustration: ]

DOGBANE FAMILY

(_Apocynaceæ_)

A small family composed chiefly of poisonous tropical plants usually with

milky, acrid juices.

(A) Indian Hemp (_Apocynum cannabinum_) is a rather unattractive species

with a smooth branching stem, rising from vertical roots to heights of 1

to 4 feet. The ovate-pointed leaves are closely crowded on the stalk

oppositely to one another.

The small, five-parted, greenish-white flowers grow in terminal clusters.

We find this species very abundant in dry fields and thickets throughout

our range; it flowers from June to August.

(B) Spreading Dogbane (_Apocynum androsæmifolium_) is a much more

attractive species than its relative just mentioned. It grows from 1 to 4

feet high, and has many long, spreading branches. The short-stemmed,

broadly ovate-pointed, pale-green leaves grow oppositely, to the ends of

the branches. The clusters of flowers terminating the branches are

composed of pink, bell-shaped blossoms, having five pointed, recurved

lobes.

[Illustration: ]

MILKWEED FAMILY

(_Asclepiadaceæ_)

A family of stout-stemmed plants having milky juices and, usually, large

opposite or whorled leaves. Each blossom has five tiny structures shaped

like wishbones, with pollen masses on each end. They are so placed that

the visiting bee or butterfly is pretty sure of getting one or more of

its legs caught in the sharp angle at the apex and must, in order to get

free, tear the tiny arrangement from its support. He then flies to the

next plant with this dangling from his legs.

Butterfly-weed; Pleurisy-root; Orange Milk-weed (_Asclepias tuberosa_) is

the most brilliantly colored species of the genus.

The stem of butterfly-weed is usually erect, from 1 to 3 feet high; it is

rather rough and has but little of the milky juices so common to the

other species. The leaves are pointed-oblong, very short-stemmed or

seated oppositely. The beautiful orange flowers grow in flat-topped

clusters or umbels at the summit of the plant. It is found from Mass. to

Minn. and southward.

[Illustration: ]

Common Milk-weed (_Asclepias syriaca_) is the most abundant and the best

known of the Milk-weeds. It grows everywhere along roadsides, in fields

and on the borders of woods. The rather stout stem rises from 2 to 5 feet

high and has numerous, opposite, large, oblong, short-stemmed leaves of a

yellow-green color. Both the leaves and the stem are finely hairy and

both yield quantities of a thick, bitter, milky fluid if they are broken

or bruised anywhere.

The flowers grow in rounded clusters, often in a pendent position, from

the axils of the upper leaves. They are very fragrant and secrete an

abundance of nectar.

In the fall the clusters of lilac-colored flowers have been replaced by

large, rough-coated seed-pods that are completely filled with the

silkiest of flossy substance attached to the numerous black seeds;

finally the pod bursts and liberates the seeds, each floating away on the

breeze, sometimes aviating for several miles before coming to earth.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Poke Milk-weed (_Asclepias phytolaccoides_) is a tall species growing

from 2 to 6 feet in height. The flowers composing its clusters are fewer

in number than those of the common milk-weed but much larger and of a

clear, ivory-white color. The flower stems are long and slender so that

the entire cluster is in a nodding position, it being the only one of the

genus in which all the flowers are pendent. Poke Milkweed is found,

usually in dry situations, along the edges of woods or along roadsides,

from Me. to Minn. and southward. It flowers from June until August.

(B) Whorled Milk-weed (_Asclepias verticillata_) is a very slender

species, common in dry woods and on prairies in the South; found north to

Mass. and Saskatchewan. The stem is slender, simple, and rises from 1 to

3 feet high. The narrow linear leaves have their margins rolled under;

they grow in closely clustered whorls about the stem, usually quite

erect. The numerous small, greenish-white flowers grow in a round cluster

or umbel at the summit of the stem. It is a very dainty species, one not

apt to be confused with any other member of the family.

[Illustration: ]

CONVOLVULUS FAMILY

(_Convolvulaceæ_)

Hedge Bindweed; Wild Morning Glory (_Convolvulus sepium_) climbs

gracefully over walls, through thickets, or twines its stem tightly about

those of other plants or shrubs.

The large funnel-shaped blossoms grow singly on slender peduncles from

the axils of the leaves. The flowers remain open only during sunshine and

occasionally on bright, moonlight nights. It is very commonly found in

moist ground along roadsides or the borders of woods or thickets,

throughout our range and also in Europe.

Common Dodder (_Cuscuta Gronovii_) is a very common little parasitic

plant found in moist, shady thickets or among the shrubs and plants

bordering ponds or streams. It germinates its seeds in the ground, and

the slender stem rises until it comes in contact with some living plant,

when the root dies and the Dodder gets its nourishment from its host by

means of numerous little suckers. It has no leaves; the stem is orange

and the clusters of minute bell-shaped flowers are white.

[Illustration: ]

POLEMONIUM FAMILY

(_Polemoniaceæ_)

(A) Downy Phlox (_Phlox pilosa_). Both the leaves and stem of this

species are covered with fine, downy hairs; the sharply pointed calyx is

also hairy and sticky. The plant stands from one to two feet in height.

The narrow, lance-shaped leaves are rather closely alternated along the

stem. The flowers are in a flat-topped cluster at the summit. The five

lobes of the corolla are widespread and bluntly pointed.

The present species ranges from Conn. to Manitoba and southward,

flowering during May and June in dry woods or on prairies.

(B) Moss Pink; Ground Pink (_Phlox subulata_) is a low, creeping species

that spreads over sandy or rocky ground, forming compact masses

resembling moss. The stem is very branchy but grows only a few inches

high; the ends of the branches turn upward and terminate in clusters of

flowers varying from crimson pink to white. Ground Pink is found from

western N. E. to Mich. and southward.

[Illustration: ]

BORAGE FAMILY

(Boraginaceæ)

(A) Forget-me-not (_Myosotis scorpioides_) (European). Forget-me-not is a

common wild flower in Europe and Asia, and is in this country as an

escape and fairly well established in Nova Scotia, New England, New York,

and southward. The stem is rather stout but weak; it rises about a foot

in height, and is smooth but the leaves are rough and hairy. The flowers

are borne in one-sided curving terminal clusters. The five, broad,

rounded petals are sky-blue with a yellow eye; the undeveloped buds are

pink. There are several species of Myosotis, the present one having the

largest and most beautiful flowers.

(B) Wild Comfrey (_Cynoglossum virginianum_) is a common, rough-stemmed

perennial growing in deciduous woods from Me. to Mich. and southward. The

tubular corolla is pale blue; it is set in a five-parted hairy calyx. The

basal leaves are large and ovate; the stem ones clasp the flower stalk

with somewhat heart-shaped bases.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Blue-weed; Viper’s Bugloss (_Echium vulgare_) (European). This

peculiar plant is locally abundant in dry fields and waste places in the

East. It is regarded as a pest and is a difficult one to get rid of.

The stem is light green spotted with purple; it grows erect from 1 to 3

feet high. The flowers grow on leafy spikes springing from the stem near

the top. When the first flowers appear, in June, they are close to the

stalk at the base of the rolled-up, leafy spike. As they continue to

bloom the spike gradually straightens and the open flowers appear farther

and farther from t he stem. The showy, tubular corolla is bright blue,

and is exceeded in length by the long stamens and three-parted style; the

buds are pink.

(B) Small Bugloss (_Lycopsis arvensis_) (European). This is a very rough,

bristly stemmed species, also naturalized from Europe, and now found in

waste places near dwellings, from Me. to Minn. and south to Va. The

lanceolate leaves are seated on the stem; they diminish to the size of

bracts and pass into the racemes of small, tubular, violet-blue flowers.

[Illustration: ]

VERVAIN FAMILY

(_Verbenaceæ_)

Herbs with opposite leaves and perfect but usually irregular flowers, the

tubular corollas spreading into two lips or four or five lobes.

Blue Vervain (_Verbena hastata_) is our most common example of the genus.

It is a tall, slender, rank-growing plant reaching heights of 2 to 7

feet. The leaves are dark green short stemmed, lanceolate, sharply

toothed, and grow oppositely on the stem.

At the top of the stem are numerous slender flower spikes, each branching

from the stem and assuming a vertical position, in a regular order

suggestive of candelabra. These slender spikes contain many buds, the

lower of which open first. From July until the end of August we will find

rings of purple flowers about the spikes, gradually drawing nearer the

ends as the flowering season advances and leaving behind a long trail of

purplish calyces. The tubular corolla has five spreading lobes, a slender

pistil, and two pairs of stamens.

[Illustration: ]

MINT FAMILY

(_Labiatæ_)

(A) Self-heal; Heal-all (_Prunella vulgaris_). Along roadsides, in

fields, and on the borders of woods, everywhere throughout the country,

we will find this familiar flower. The stem grows from 6 to 15 inches

high and is topped with a cylindrical flower-head composed of many

two-lipped, tubular, purple florets. But few of these bloom at a time,

commencing at the bottom, and the flowering season extends from June to

September. The leaves are sparingly toothed and seated oppositely on long

stems. Usually several leaflets appear from their axils and sometimes

smaller flower-heads from the axils of the upper ones.

(B) Skullcap (_Scutellaria integrifolia_) is one of the handsomest of the

Skullcaps, the tubular, two-lipped flowers in the loose terminal spike

each measuring about one inch in length. The downy stem rises from 6 to

24 inches high and is set oppositely with toothless, lance-shaped,

round-ended leaves. It is found in dry ground from Mass. to Fla. and

along the Gulf.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Ground Ivy; Gill-over-the-ground (_Nepeta hederacea_). (European) is

a beautiful little trailing mint that grows very profusely about country

houses.

The leaves rise from the stem in pairs; they are round, with heart-shaped

bases, the edge cut into rounded lobes, and their whole surface is downy

and veiny. The pretty little purple flowers grow in small clusters from

the axils of the leaves. The upper lip is erect and slightly notched; the

lower one has three spreading lobes and is spotted with dark purple.

Ground Ivy is found in blossom from May to July throughout the eastern

half of our country.

(B) Catnip (_Nepeta cataria_) (European) is a very common mint,

introduced from Europe, the aromatic foliage of which has a very peculiar

attraction for all members of the feline race. The plant has a stout,

square hollow stem from 2 to 3 feet tall and is downy, as are the

sage-green, toothed leaves. The lilac-white flowers are clustered on

peduncles from the axils of the leaves. Catnip is common throughout our

range.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Motherwort (_Leonurus cardiaca_) (European) is a simple,

erect-stemmed mint growing from 2 to 4 feet high. It has a very

decorative effect, the leaves being large at the base of the stem and

rapidly diminishing as they approach the top; the lower ones are quite

long-stemmed and all are palmately slashed. The flowers grow in round

clusters surrounding the stem at the axils of the leaves.

The numerous flowers composing these clusters have tiny, two-lipped,

white, pink, or purple corollas and minute stamens. Both the stem and the

leaves have a wooly texture and the former are strongly veined.

Motherwort is commonly found about old country dwellings and along

roadsides. We find it in bloom from June until August. It is a much more

leafy species than most of the mints.

(B) Hedge Nettle; Wound-wort (_Stachys palustris_) is a tall mint (1 to 3

feet) with a downy-bristly stem and purple, tubular, two-lipped flowers

in a terminal spike and from the axils of the upper leaves; lower lip

streaked and spotted. Common in moist ground from N. S. to Manitoba and

southward.

[Illustration: ]

Oswego Tea; Bee Balm (_Monarda didyma_) is one of our most brilliantly

colored wild flowers. It grows along the shady borders of woodland

streams or pools where its vivid coloring is in strong contrast with the

deep greens of the surrounding vegetation. The stem is hairy and rather

rough; it attains heights of two feet or more. The short-stemmed, broad

lance-shaped leaves are light green, sharply toothed, and rather thin.

The flowers grow in rounded terminal heads, composed of numerous long,

tubular, scarlet florets. The upper lip is long, arched, pointed, and

often notched at the tip; the lower lip is three-parted, the middle one

being longer than the side ones.

Nectar, seated at the base of the long tube, can only be reached by

long-tongued insects. Best adapted to it are bumblebees and certain of

the butterflies. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird, too, attracted to this,

his favorite color, often partakes of the sweets. From July until

September this beautiful species blooms in suitable localities from

Quebec to Manitoba and southward to Ga. and Mo.

[Illustration: ]

NIGHTSHADE FAMILY

(_Solanaceæ_)

(A) Bittersweet; Nightshade (_Solanum Dulcamara_) (European), although an

immigrant, is quite common in the eastern half of our country. It chooses

for its habitat moist thickets or the edges of ponds where there are

plenty of shrub to help support it, for this species has weak stems.

The dark-green leaves are variable in form; some are lobed, others have

small lateral leaflets, and still others have another pair of still

smaller leaflets on the leaf stem. The flowers hang in loose clusters on

long peduncles from the axils of the leaves. This species blooms from

June until September.

(B) Black Nightshade (_Solanum nigrum_) is a native species with a

smooth, erect, branching stem 1 to 2 feet high. The long-stemmed ovate

leaves have a wavy-lobed edge. The five-parted white flowers grow in

few-flowered clusters from the leaf axils, the round berries are black

when fully ripe, and are quite poisonous. This species is found

throughout our range.

[Illustration: ]

Purple Thorn Apple (_Datura Tatula_) is a large, ill-scented,

rank-growing weed with a stout, smooth stem from 1 to 5 feet high. The

long-stemmed leaves have very irregular, coarsely toothed outlines. The

lavender-colored, trumpet-shaped flowers are about four inches long. The

flaring corolla has five broad, sharply pointed lobes and is seated in a

light-green, five-parted calyx about half its length. Usually the color

of the corolla is more intense on the lobes and often shades to white

toward the base of the tube. After flowering a large green fruit capsule

about two inches long appears; it is ovoid in shape and armed with stout

prickles. The entire plant has poisonous juices. It grows in waste

ground, especially about barnyards, from Me. to Minn. and southward.

Thorn Apple; Jimson Weed (_Datura Stramonium_) also comes from across the

water; it is very similar to the preceding, grows in the same places and

in the same range. The flowers are white and the leaves are lighter

green; the stem is also somewhat stouter.

[Illustration: ]

FIGWORT FAMILY

(_Scrophulariaceæ_)

(A) Common or Great Mullein (_Verbascum Thapsus_) (European). This

well-known plant is one of the most common sights along roadsides and in

dry fields. Its long stalk rises from 2 to 7 feet above ground.

Mullein leaves are very soft, with fine white downy hairs; they have

given to the plant a name very often applied—“Flannel Plant.” The ones on

the tall stalk are smaller and diminish in size to bracts as they reach

the bottom of the long flower spike. From June until September these

flowers open a few at a time and last but a day. The light-yellow corolla

has five uneven, concaved lobes and five protruding stamens.

(B) Moth Mullein (_Verbascum Blattaria_) (European) has a tall, very

slender stalk at the summit of which is a loose raceme. The flowers are

large, have five petals, very prominent stamens, and orange anthers. The

upper leaves are lance-shaped, the lower ones have the margins deeply

cut, toothed, and notched. It is common from Me. to Ontario and

southward.

[Illustration: ]

(A) Blue Toadflax (_Linaria canadensis_). This is a very slender and

dainty species, the stem attaining heights of 5 to 30 inches.

The little tubular flowers are violet-blue in color; the corolla is

two-lipped, the upper one having two lobes and the lower one three; the

latter is pouch-shaped and extends backward into a very slender spur.

Blue Toadflax is commonly found in dry, sandy fields throughout the

United States and southern Canada.

(B) Toadflax; Butter-and-eggs (_Linaria vulgaris_), although an

immigrant, has extended its range from the Atlantic to the Pacific and

southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The stem is simple and from 6 to

30 inches high. The narrow alternating leaves are grayish-green, covered

with a whitish bloom.

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.

[Illustration: ]

(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.