192 ANNUAL REPORT 



four or five feet high. Heads not numerous. Before opening, 

 globe-shaped; scales of involucre, often with colored tips spaxulate 

 or obovate, with dry, membraneous, rough margins, bright purple. 



Liatris Pycnostachya, is found in moist meadows. Flowersin 

 dense, showy spikes, heads small, about five-flowered, one-half inch 

 long. Scales of involucre, oblong or lanceolate, with recurved or 

 spreading colored tips. Grows four or five feet high. Pale purple 

 flowers. These blazing stars are very abundant in many parts of 

 Minnesota, and are truly handsome, relieving the monotony of the 

 prairies and meadows by their gay flowers. They begin to bloom 

 about the first of August and continue until frost. They all possess 

 active medicinal properties, being used in empiric practice for all 

 kinds of diseases. 



In addition to these common, yet attractive flowers, already no- 

 ticed, I will mention two of less frequent occurrence, but which for 

 beauty cannot readily be excelled by any of the finer cultivated 

 flowers. They belong to the orchis family and make their appear- 

 ance during the summer months. On the upper Minnesota river 

 they are quite plenty, and are sometimes found on the high prairies 

 in many parts of the state. 



Platanthera leucophea — Nuttall,or "Western orchis.' Flowers 

 white, large. The divisions of the tip are fan-shaped, thread-liked 

 fringed, open about two inches long, considerably longer than the 

 ovary; stem two or three feet high. It would make a valuable ac- 

 quisition to the garden. 



Platanthera psycodes — Gray. This is the "small purple-fringed 

 orchis." It is found in moist meadows; grows about two feet high, 

 with a cylindrical spike, four to seven inches long, of beautiful 

 purple, fragrant flowers; blooms in July. Some confusion has 

 occurred in regard to its name. It is undoubtedly the orchis 

 psycodes of Linnaeus, which is synonymous w T ith the name I have 

 used — platanthera being originally embraced in the orchis genus. 

 The large " purple fringed orchis " — P. ftmbriaia — is a beautiful 

 flower, and is common in the western part of the state. 



AUTUMN FLOWERS. 



" But on the hill the golden rod, 

 And the aster in the wood; 

 And the yellow sunflower by the brook, 

 In autumn glory stood." — Bryant. 



Autumn is no less rich in floral beauty than Spring or Summer in 

 Minnesota. It is true the soft and delicate flowers have mostly 

 perished in the heat and drouth, and cold nights of early Septem- 

 ber days. But there is a new world of beauty in the profusion of 

 compound flowers universally distributed over the whole state in 

 the fall of the year. The Compound or Composite order of plants 

 is easy to recognize by the several flowers contained in a head. 

 In other words, flowers within a flower. For instance take the 

 smallest head of a "golden rod," and by the aid of a magnifying 



