WHITE 



COMMON YARROW. MILFOIL. 



Achillea Millefolium. Composite Family. 



Stem. — Simple at first, often branching near the summit. Leaves. — 

 Divided into finely toothed segments. Flo7ver-hcads. — White, occasionally 

 pink ; clustered ; small ; made up of both ray and disk-flowers. 



This is one of our most frequent roadside weeds, blossoming 

 throughout the summer and late into the autumn. Tradition 

 claims that it was used by Achilles to cure the wounds of his 

 soldiers, and the genus is named after that mighty hero. It 

 still forms one of the ingredients of an ointment valued by the 

 Scotch Highlanders. The early English botanists called the 

 plant "nose-bleed," ''because the leaves being put into the 

 nose caused it to bleed ;." and Gerarde writes that '' Most men 

 say that the leaves chewed, and especially greene, are a remedie 

 for the toothache." These same pungent leaves also won it the 

 name of " old man's pepper," while in Sweden its title signi- 

 fies yf<r^/ //^/, and refers to its employment in the manufacture 

 of beer. Linnaeus considered the beer thus brewed to be more 

 intoxicating than that in which hops were utilized. The old 

 women of the Orkney Islands hold "milfoil tea" in high re- 

 pute, believing it to be gifted with the power of dispelling mel- 

 ancholy. In Switzerland a good vinegar is said to be made 

 from the Alpine species. The plant is cultivated in the gardens 

 of Madeira, where so many beautiful and, in our eyes, rare, flow- 

 ers grow in wild profusion. 



WILD CARROT. BIRD'S NEST. QUEEN ANNE'S LACE. 



Daucus Carota. Parsley Family. 



Stems. — Tall and slender. Leaves. — Finely dissected. Flowers. — 

 White ; in a compound umbel, forming a circular flat-topped cluster. 



When the delicate flowers of the wild carrot are still unsoiled 

 by the dust from the highway, and fresh from the early summer 

 rains, they are very beautiful, adding much to the appearance of 

 the roadsides and fields along which they grow so abundantly as 



90 



