BORAGINACEAE STICKSEED 



707 



About 40 species in north temperate regions, several of which are weedy 

 in North America. 



Lappula virginiana (L.) Greene. Beggar's Lice 



A coarse pubescent biennial from 2-4 feet high; lower leaves ovate, orbicu- 

 lar cordate, long, petioled ; stem leaves ovate-oblong or oval ; flowers nearly 

 white ; globose nutlets, flattened and barbed. 



Distribution. Common especially in woods northward from New Bruns- 

 wick to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas to Louisiana. 



Lappula cchinata Gilbert. Stickseed 



An erect annual from 1-2 feet high; pale, leafy, hispid with erect branches; 

 leaves linear or linear-oblong; racemes 1 -sided, bracteolate; calyx segments 

 lanceolate; corolla blue; nutlets rough-granulate or tuberculate on the back, 

 the margins with a double row of slender prickles. 



Distribution. Abundant in waste places along roadsides from eastern 

 Canada and New England to Minnesota, Kansas and British Columbia. Weedy 

 also in Europe, where it is native. 



Lappula floribunda (Lehm.) Greene. Large-flowered Stickweed 



An erect perennial or biennial, rough-pubescent ; 2 feet or more high ; 

 leaves oblong to linear-lanceolate, the lower tapering on margined petioles ; 

 racemes erect or nearly so; pedicels deflexed in fruit; flowers pretty; blue, oc- 

 casionally white ; nutlets scabrous on the margin with a row of flat prickles. 



Distribution. Common in Saskatchewan and Minnesota and abundant in 

 the Rocky Mountains. 



Poisonous properties, perhaps the fruits of all the species are somewhat 

 injurious to animals, causing inflammation. They are frequently found in wool. 



Echiurn L. Blueweed 



Bristly annual, biennial, or perennial ; erect stems ; corolla with a funnel- 

 form tube and a 5-lobed spreading border; stamens many, exserted. The 30 

 species are natives of the old world. 



Echiurn vulgar c (Tourn.) L. Blueweed 



An erect, rough, bristly biennial, 18 inches to 2 feet high, with an erect, 

 mostly simple stem; leaves of the stem linear-lanceolate, sessile; flowers in 

 cymose clusters ; corolla reddish-purple, changing to blue ; tube funnelform, 

 border unequal, spreading, 5-lobed; stamens 5, inserted on the tube; style 

 threadlike ; nutlets roughened or wrinkled. 



Distribution. A common weed along roadsides, fields, and meadows from 

 New England to Indiana. 



Poisonous properties. Probably poisonous. According to Friedberger and 

 Frohner it causes slavering. 



VERBENACEAE. Verbena Family 



Herbs, shrubs or trees, w r ith opposite or alternate leaves; perfect, regular, 

 or somewhat irregular flowers borne in spikes, racemes, cymes or panicles; 

 calyx generally persistent, inferior, 4-S-lobed or cleft; corolla 4-5-cleft, tube 

 cylindrical; stamens 4, didynamous or 2; ovary superior, 2-4-celled or more; 

 fruit dry or drupaceous, splitting into 1-4 nutlets. 





