68 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



Golden Senecio, or The golden senecio, or ragwort, has 

 Eagwort. a delightfully bright color which illu- 



Senecio aureus. • .i i t ,^ ,^ 



mines the meadows where the nower 

 happens to grow with an amber light such as we 

 may see in some of the paintings of the old mas- 

 ter, Claude Lorraine. There 

 is something very beautiful 

 in this mixture of golden yel- 

 low with the misty - toned 

 green of the meadows in 

 July when the senecio is in 

 full bloom. The flower re- 

 sembles an aster in form, but 

 the leaves have an individu- 

 ality of their own ; they are 

 also variable in type ; per- 

 haps the commonest leaf is 

 heart-shaped. The plant gets 

 its name from its hairy ap- 

 pearance (certain of the species have a cottony look), 

 or from the downy effect of the flower head when 

 it has passed the period of bloom. Thoreau says 

 in his journal, July 2d : " I see the downy heads of 

 the senecio gone to seed, thistlelike, but small. The 

 Gnaphalhimft " (everlasting flowers) " and this are 

 among the earliest to present this appearance." The 

 word senecio is derived from senex, an old man, and 



Golden Senecio. 



