ROBIN'S PLANTAIN 



pollen, which happens by the middle of May, they 

 droop, the stems wither, and a general collapse sets 

 in. Their work is done. The others, the pointed 

 pistillate heads, wax strong, the stems grow high, 

 keeping level with the grass and their heads take on a 

 tinge of color. By June the seeds are mature and the 

 plant becomes lost in the surrounding foliage. 



ROBIN'S PLANTAIN. DAISY FLEABANE 



Erigeron pidchellus. Erigcron bellifdlium 



Erigeron, from er, spring, and geron, an old man; sug- 

 gested by the abundant pappus of some species. 



Perennial. Moist banks and grassy fields, borders of 

 woods. Nova Scotia to Ontario and South Dakota, south 

 to Florida and Louisiana. Abundant in northern Ohio. 

 April- June. 



Stem. — Simple, covered with long, silky hairs, about two 

 feet high, producing runners and offshoots from the base. 



Leaves. — Basal leaves obovate or spatulate, in a flat 

 tuft about the root, two to three inches long, an inch wide; 

 stem-leaves distant, oblong-lanceolate, partly clasping. 



Flower-heads. — Radiate-composite, an inch to an inch 

 and a half across, borne in a loose cluster at the summit 

 of the flower-stem; ray-florets a circle of about fifty 

 narrow, pale-pinkish rays; disk-florets greenish yellow; 

 scales of involucre very narrow, hairy. 



The Daisy Fleabanes are the Aster-like flowers of 

 spring and early summer. The blossoms look so much 

 like Asters that it may be a matter of some little in- 

 terest why they are not Asters — as a matter of fact the 

 two are blood-brothers — the difference lies not in es- 

 sentials but in trifles. 



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