DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME COMMON WEEDS 



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equal ; native to Europe, frequently escaped from cultiva- 

 tion in the northern states, but sometimes cultivated as 

 an ornamental plant. 



Chicory or Succory (Cichorlum Intybus, L.). A 

 branching perennial with deep roots and alternate leaves ; 

 basal leaves spreading on the ground ; stem leaves oblong 

 or lanceolate, partly clasping; showy flowers, bright blue, 

 varying in pink or purple. Common along roadsides, in fields 

 and waste places from New England 

 to Canada and Nebraska; especially 

 common where chicory has been cul- 

 tivated. A troublesome weed in Wis- 

 consin and Minnesota. Allied to endive 

 which is cultivated as a salad plant. 



Long-rooted Cat's-ear or Gosmore 

 (Hypochaeris radicata, L.). Stems 

 several, from a perennial root, slender, 

 one to two feet high ; branched or 

 rarely simple, bearing a few scales ; 

 leaves oblanceolate to obovate in out- 

 line, pinnatifid-lobed to dentate, two 

 to six inches long, hirsute on both 

 sides; involucre about an inch long, 

 glabrous or sparingly pubescent ; 

 achenes rough, all with very slender 



beaks longer than the body. Waste * lg ; , I6o -> 



* (Hvpochaens radi- 



places, western Washington to Can- C ata). (C. M. King.) 

 fornia. Naturalized from Europe. 



Skeleton Weed or Gum Succory (Chondrilla juncea, 

 L.). A perennial with widely branching stems, one to 

 three feet high, bristly hairy below, smooth above ; basal 

 leaves runcinate, pinnatifid ; stem leaves few, linear heads 

 few-flowered, short peduncled ; involucre glabrous; 

 achenes terete with an abrupt, slender beak, several 

 ribbed, smooth below. Common eastward in fields and 

 waste places. Native to Europe. 



Fig. 1 60. Cat's ear 



