COMPOSITE FAMILY 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: roadsides and fields. 



THE PLANT: erect, one foot to three feet high; the stem 

 -stiff, much branched, with few, short, stiff hairs. 



THE LEAVES: those of the stem alternate, the basal spread- 

 ing on the ground; those of the stem oblong-lanceolate or 

 lanceolate, those of the rigid flowering-branches, spatu- 

 late; the lower three inches to six inches long, the upper 

 much smaller, those of the flowering branches minute; 

 acute or acutish at the apex; clasping or partly clasping 

 at the base, even narrowed into long petioles; the lowest 

 pinnatifid, the upper entire or lobed. 



THE FLOWER HEADS: very numerous, sometimes one and 

 one half inches broad, one to four together in stemless 

 clusters on the nearly leafless or bracted branches. Albinos 

 are found from pale blue to pure white. In fading, flowers 

 turn white, due to oxidation. 



THE FRUIT: achenes; the pappus of short, blunt scales. 



A beautifully coloured, rather stiff plant, about which 

 there are interesting stories. The root-leaves are still used 

 in Europe for forage, and, blanched, are a substitute for 

 pot-herbs or are served as a salad or used as spinach. In 

 this country, during the Civil War, the ground-up root was 

 used for making coffee and is still an adulterant in the 

 cheaper grades, while in France it is still put to this use. 

 Also a valuable drug is obtained from it. 



This historic plant was at one time very rare on Nan- 

 tucket. In commenting on this fact, Mrs. Owen says, 

 "At the south end of Orange Street, scattered along the 

 roadside, where it has been known for fifty years, and 

 never, apparently, any more or less abundant than now." 

 Mr. Dame reports two plants in Siasconset and a few in 

 Polpis. But now it is everywhere. Unfortunately it can- 

 not be picked advantageously, for the minute the stem 

 has been cut, the flowers usually droop and do not revive. 



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