YELLOW 



RATTLEBOX. 



Crotalaria sagittalis. Pulse Family. 



Stem. — Hairy; three to six inches high. Leaves. — Undivided; oval or 

 lance-shaped. Flowers. — Papilionaceous ; yellow ; but few in a cluster. 

 Pod. — Inflated; many-seeded; blackish. 



The yellow flowers of the rattlebox are found in the sandy 

 meadows and along the roadsides during the summer. Both the 

 generic and English names refer to the rattling of the loose seeds 

 within the inflated pod. 



YELLOW RATTLE. 



Khinanthiis Crista-galli. Figwort Family. 



Stem. — Slender, upright, usually branching, six to eighteen inches high. 

 Leaves. — Opposite, lanceolate, set close to the stem, coarsely toothed. 

 Floral-leaves. — Broader, with bristle-tipped teeth. Flowers. — Yellow, 

 "crowded in a one-sided, leafy-bracted spike." Calyx. — Four-toothed, flat- 

 tened, much inflated in fruit. Corolla. — Two-lipped, usually with a purple 

 spot on one or both lips, upper lip arched, lower lip three-lobed. Stamens. 

 — Four, under the upper lip. Pistil. — One. 



This plant is found along the New England coast and in \hj*. 

 mountains of New Hampshire. 



^ COMMON ST. JOHN'S-WORT. 



Hypericum perforatum. St. John's-wort Family. 



Stem. — Much branched. Leaves. — Small; opposite; somewhat oblong ; 

 with pellucid dots. Flo7uers. — Yellow ; numerous ; in leafy clusters. Calyx. 

 — Of five sepals. Corolla. — Of five bright yellow petals, somewhat spotted 

 with black. Stamens. — Indefinite in number. Pistil. — One, with three 

 spreading styles. 



'' Too well known as a pernicious weed which it is difficult to 

 extirpate," is the scornful notice which the botany gives to this 

 plant, whose bright yellow flowers are noticeable in waste fields 

 and along roadsides nearly all summer. Its rank, rapid growth 

 proves very exhausting to the soil, and every New England 



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