670 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



FEW TREES BEAK HANDSOMER FRUIT 



THAN THE COMMON SASSAFRAS 



(Sassafras variifotintn) . 



Fig. 3. — This tree lias been placed in the 

 Laurel family ilMuraccac). The ovoid drupe or 

 fruit of the Sassafras is at first a bright green or 

 yellowish green; it then turns a deep bluish or 

 purplish black, and has the form which is so well 

 shown in the cut The pedicels are of a reddish 

 flesh color, cup'ed at their extremities. The 

 early French settlers in Florida gave this tree its 

 name, and it is generally found growing on the 

 limits of rich woods. 



IRONVVEED IS ONE OF THE GLORIES OF 

 THE FLOWER WORLD IN AUTUMN 



Fig. 5 — This plant is also known as Flat Top 

 iV ernonia no-, eboraccnsis), and it is a member 

 of the Compositac. Its flowers are of a rich pur- 



Kle, and some thirty or forty of them make up a 

 ead. Sometimes it ^rows to be six feet high, 

 and is then very conspicuous in the oUl fields and 

 damp places. 



pale pink, deliberately chewing and chewing a bumble-bee. The re- 

 semljlance, which may last for an entire minute, is quite ludicrous. 

 The one who gave the vernacular name of "Ek'iihant's foot" to the plant 

 of that name must have been endowed with an unusually keen imagina- 

 tion — in fact, with a far-fetched faculty of seeing resemblances in forms as 

 utterly unlike in every particular as those of a tea kettle and a crooked pin 

 Elephant's foot is easily recognized either by its flowers or by the triangle 

 of leaves or bracts that encircle them at their bases. Each head of this 

 plant is composed of a cluster of several flowers. It blooms rather late in 

 the season, and is generally found in dry places in the open woods — some- 

 times in great masses e.xtending over from ten to twenty square feet. The 

 thin, ovate-oblong leaves are somewhat hairy, and the plant is a perennial — 

 that is, it appears year after year in the same localities. 



When the autumn days come around, the flower world is represented by 

 some very distinctive and conspicuous jjlants in the entire northeastern 

 section of the United States. Some 

 of these bear a certain resemblance 

 to each other — at least some peo- 

 ple seem to think so — such as the 

 Iron-weed, the Joe-Pye weed, and 

 the larger species of the purple a.s- 

 ters. At the same time of the year, 

 and pretty much in the same places 

 — that is, in old fields and along 

 country roadsides — are also seen in 

 all their glory, several species of 

 thistles ; the milkweeds all- in pods ; 

 the boneset, black-eyed Susan, and 

 everywhere the coming goldenrods 

 of several kinds. Of all these none 

 is richer in color, or more conspicu- 

 ous in size and massing than the 

 elegant Iron-weed or Flat-top. 

 Many species of big butterflies are 

 now in evidence, and the well- 

 known tiger swallowtail seems to 

 be partial in its attentions to the 

 flowers of this well-known plant. 

 The one shown in the illustration, 

 however, is a Viceroy butterfly, 

 seen on side view {Basiluirchui arcli- 

 ippiis) ; it does not show up very 

 well for the reason that it lit within 

 the shadows of the flowers and up- 

 per leaves of the plants. The for- 

 mer are tubular and the latter are alternate, nearly lanceolate, and have 

 finely serrated margins, being withal very rough on both surfaces. Ver- 

 nonia has its name from William Vernon, an English botanist of long ago, 

 who, at one time, botanized in this country. 



Passing to the thistles, this is a numerous and a sometimes puzzling 

 group of plants, though not tpiite as much so as the goldenrods or the 

 asters. Our common burdock is more or less nearly related to any typical 

 thistle ; and the bur of a burdock, when the purplish flower-head appears, 

 quite closely resembles the corresponding parts in a thistle. The thistle 

 shown in Figure 6 is one of our most abundant species ; it is widely known 

 as the Common or Bull Thistle. Its flowers are reddish purple, passing 

 almost to a pink shade in some plants. In still other thistles they may be 

 white, or even of a yellow tint. As in the case of so many other undesirable 

 plants, the majority of our thistles found their way over from Europe. 

 "When the Danes invaded Scotland," says Neltje Blanchan. "they stole 



THIS IS ELEPHANTS FOOT (Elefhantofus), 

 AN INTERESTING PLANT THAT BE- 

 LONGS IN THE GREAT CO.MPOSITE 

 FAMILY iCompositae) 

 Fig. 4 — Three species of Elephant's Foot have 

 been described, the one here shown being E. 

 carolinianiis, — a plant growing in dry soil from 

 Pennsylvania to the Lakes and southward. The 

 flowers, well shown here, are of a purplish color. 



