COMPOSITE FAMILY 



Flower-heads. — Discoid-composite, resembling small 

 Thistle-heads, borne on short, branched peduncles and 

 forming broad, flat clusters. Bracts of involucre brownish 

 purple, tipped with awl-shaped bristles. Akenes ribbed. 

 Pappus of two series, the outer of small scales, the inner 

 of hair-like bristles. 



Pollinated by bees and butterflies. Nectar-bearing. 



The color of the Iron-Weed blossom in intensity 

 surpasses that of any other flower of the field except, 

 perhaps, the Cardinal Flower. The plant is often 

 found in company with Joe-Pye Weed, both seeking 

 moist lowlands, both dominating the lower plants 

 about them. It lacks the grace of either the Eupa- 

 toriums or the Sunflowers, but its color is marvellous. 



TANSY. BITTER BUTTONS 



Tanacetum vulgdre 



Tanacetum, referred to Greek athanasia, immortality. 



Perennial. Naturalized from Europe. Grows in 

 clumps, having escaped from old gardens; now follows 

 the highways and in New England is often in possession 

 of entire fields in company with the Goldenrods. Nova 

 Scotia to Minnesota, south to North Carolina. July- 

 September. 



Stems. — Two to four feet high, densely leafy; leaves 

 decurrent on the stem. 



Leaves. — Alternate, dark green, deeply and pinnately 

 cleft into narrow, toothed divisions; lower segments of 

 the leaf often smaller than the others. Basal leaves 

 often a foot long. Strong scented, bitter and aromatic. 



Flower-heads. — Discoid-composite, brilliant yellow, 

 made up of small yellow disks of tubular florets only, 



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