YELLOW 



COLTSFOOT. 



Tussilago Farfara. Composite Family. 



Scape. — Slender, scaly, three to eighteen inches high, bearing a solitary 

 large flower-head. Leaves. — Appearing later than the flowers, heart- 

 shaped below, " angulately-lobed, " woolly beneath. Flozver-kead. — Bright 

 yellow, composed of both ray and disk-flowers, appearing in early spring 

 before the leaves. 



The coltsfoot is an immigrant from Europe which is now 

 thoroughly wild in this country. For some years before I had 

 succeeded in seeing the plant in flower I had noticed colonies of 

 its lobed, heart-shaped leaves growing in moist ditches and 

 along the banks or in the beds of streams. But my efforts to 

 discover the name or blossom of the plant which sent up these 

 conspicuous leaves were unsuccessful till one early May when, on 

 the banks of a stream in Berkshire, I chanced upon a bright 

 yellow flower-head, looking something like a dandelion with its 

 heart plucked out, topping a leafless, scaly-bracted scape. I iden- 

 tified this as the coltsfoot, connecting it with the puzzling leaves 

 only by means of the botanical descriptions. 



This is a common plant in England, yielding what is sup- 

 posed to be a remedy for coughs. 



CELANDINE POPPY. 



Stylophorum diphyllum. Poppy Family. 



Stem. — Low ; two-leaved. Stem-leaves. — Opposite ; deeply incised. 

 Root-leaves. — Incised or divided. Flowers. — Deep-yellow; large; one or 

 more at the summit of the stem. Calyx. — Of two hairy sepals. Corolla. — 

 Of four petals. Sta7/iens. — Many. Pistil. — One ; with a two or four- 

 lobed stigma. 



In April or May, somewhat south and westward, the woods 

 are brightened, and occasionally the hill-sides are painted yel- 

 low, by this handsome flower. In both flower and foliage the 

 plant suggests the celandine. 



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