Minnesota Plant Life. 



335 



rieties, especially in the northern part of the state on l)urnt-over 

 tracts. The fireweed is an erect herb, with purple flowers in 

 broad terminal racemes and willow-shaped leaves arranged alter- 

 nately upon the stem. The capsules split into four sections and 

 release the numerous seeds, covered with cottony hairs, by 

 means of which they are distributed abundantly in the wind. 

 Closely related to the fireweeds are three or four species of 

 willow-herbs with slender capsules packed full of small tufted 

 seeds. Here, too. should be classified the evening-primroses 

 and Goiiras, with their fuchsia-like yellow flowers. Five or six 

 varieties of evening-primroses occur in different parts of the 

 state. The white evening-primrose is limited to the western 

 portion. The shrubby prairie evening-primrose is common 

 over the prairie district. The most abundant is the ordinary 

 evening-primrose of roadsides, known by its yellow flowers, 

 with four large petals and calyx growing up around the fruit- 

 rudiment and adherent to it The Gaiiras are rare herbs, or 

 half-shrubs, not abundant except in the southwestern districts. 

 They may be known by the fuchsia-like flowers, red in one 

 species — the scarlet Goitra — and pink in the other. The flow- 

 ers are smaller than those of the evening-primroses, but rather 

 larger than those of the willow-herbs. 



Enchanter's nightshades. Two herbs of woodland districts, 

 known as enchanter's nightshades, are grouped in the evening- 

 primrose family. They are low herbs with the habits and 

 appearance of shade plants. Their leaves are opposite and 

 are more or less triangular. The small white fuchsia-like flow- 

 ers are borne in loose terminal racemes, and the capsules, 

 when they mature, are covered with hooked prickles. The 

 little pear-shaped burs that are found upon one's clothing after 

 an autumnal ramble in the woods will probably be the fruits 

 of the enchanter's nightshade. The two varieties of nightshade 

 may be distinguished by their size, one of them varying from 

 a foot to two feet in height, while the other is seldom over five 

 inches tall. 



Water-milfoils. The plants known as water-milfoils include 

 five or six Minnesota species, of which the so-called mare's tail or 

 jointweed is the most striking in form. It is a slender, erect, 

 unbranched plant, found growing on wet mud or in the water. 



