136 A NATURALIST IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION 



compound with seven to twenty-five leaflets. The roots are 

 fibrous and very tough, serving well for string on emergency. 

 Bush clover (Fig. 126) is a tall slender plant with a covering of 

 silky hairs. The compound leaves consist of three leaflets which 

 are long and narrow. The round heads of yellowish blossoms are 

 sessile in the axils of the upper leaves. The wild geranium of 

 the black oak association is Geranium carolinianum (Fig. 127). 

 The leaf is shaped much like that of the sweet-scented, deeply 



FIG. 133. Wild bergamot, M onarda fistulosa 



cut leaf of the common garden geranium. The flower is about 

 one-half inch broad, pale purple, and the seed pod bears a short 

 beak. Geranium maculatum, a closely related species, is found 

 farther back in the mixed oak association. Flowering spurge 

 (Fig. 128) has an erect stem with narrow leaves. At its top a 

 cluster of stalks arises from a common point surrounded by a 

 whorl of green bracts. These stalks branch rapidly, and each 

 branch terminates in a white blossom. The juice of the plant 

 is milky. Bird's-foot and arrow-leaved violets may be identified 

 from the figures of the plants (Figs. 129, 131). Butterfly weed 



