COMPOSITE FAMILY 



a' 



Leaves. — Basal and lower leaves with 

 two to five pairs of lateral veins, oblong, 

 spatulate or lanceolate, mostly obtuse, 

 sometimes a foot or more long, narrowed 

 into long petioles; upper leaves sessile, 

 lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acute. 



Flower -heads. — Thickly set on short, 

 spreading, recurved branchlets, which 

 form a large, showy terminal plume. 

 Rays, large, eight to ten; bracts of in- 

 volucre lanceolate, acute. 



"Graceful tossing plumes of glowing gold, 

 Waving lonely on the rocky ledge." 



Solidago sempervirens grows of 

 choice within sound of the sea, de- 

 lighting in thick fogs and salt spray, 

 the moisture and the coolness of the 

 shore. It is found in the tangle just 

 above high tide with Asters and 

 Jewelweed and Tansy, or looking 

 seaward from the edge of a cliff. Its 

 earliest heads unfold about the ist of Septem- 

 ber; by the 15th it gives a yellow glow to the 

 seashore tangle. The plant is vigorous, suc- 

 culent, soft to the touch, smooth, and sometimes 



40 



Leaf of Seaside 



Goldenrod. 



Solidago 



sempervirens. 



8 to 12 in. long 



