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147 
It is somewhat of a surprise to find the root system of the 
common daisy comparatively small. It is only when the plant 
is old and has developed many flower stalks in a cluster that the 
roots become of a size to interfere at all with cultivation. Among 
the annuals there are four species with similar root systems, all 
of which are among the grasses, namely: Bromus tectorum, L. 
(chess), Panicum capillare, L. (witch grass), and the fox-tails, 
Setaria glauca (L.) Beauv. and Setaria viridis (L.), Beauv. 
Ordinary plants of any of these four grasses when grown sep- 
arately make but a small cluster of fibrous roots. 
Of those with a combination of the tap and clustered form of 
rooting in group four there are only two and these are both 
annuals and closely related, namely, Ambrosia artemisiefolia, 
L. (ragweed) and Ambrosia trifida, L. (horseweed). These 
from their large size have root systems that are more exten- 
sive than those of many other weeds mentioned in previous 
groups, but in this classification it has been relative rather than 
absolute size that has governed in the classification. The rag- 
weeds have a comparatively small root system. ; 
In the last group, namely, those with the smallest root system, 
there are but few examples. Among the biennials there is but 
one and it, A//ium vineale, L. (wild onion) is a vile pest in many 
dairy regions. Aside from the bulb there seems to be little else 
below the ground. There are four of the annuals that are here 
grouped, namely: Veronica peregrina, L. (speedwell), Orobanche 
vamosa, L.. (broom rape), Cenchrus tribuloides, L. (sand-bur) and 
Eleusine Indica (L.) Gaertn. (wire grass). The speedwell is a 
short-lived weed of early summer; in the broom rape we have a 
Parasitical pest of the hemp and some other field crops, while 
the last two species are grasses, one a native and particularly 
obnoxious on account of its spinose fruit, while the last on the 
list is a foreigner that is growing in numbers but not in favor 
among us, 
[Since writing the above one change has been made in the 
century, namely: the substitution of Physalis Virg iniana, Mill., 
for Polygonum dumetorum, var. scandens, which does not affect 
the classification materially. ] 
Rutgers College, Dec. 28th, 1891. 
