MOrX IAIN Kl()\\i;i<^ , ,, 



''an old man," and refers to the hoar\ -headed appearance of 

 the plant when in seed, whieh is supposed to resenil)le the 

 silky white hair of the patriarch. 



Different species of Rai;\vorts are (|uite numerous at Wv^h 

 altitudes. They all have yellow flowers of various hue.s, shad- 

 ing from i^rimrose to amber and oran,i;e ; hut the (iolden 

 Ragwort is the most abundant of them all. It is j)rincii)ally 

 by their widely dixerse foliage that the StPiu-ios must be 

 distinguished. 



So bright and gay are these flowers, and all their fellows 

 of golden mean, that we are compelled to wonder what caused 

 Wordsworth, gentlest of poets and truest of Nature lovers, 

 to write : 



" III befall the yellow tiowers. 

 Children of the tlarinij liour.s." 



What would the meadows be without the Dandelions, the 

 Sunflowers, the Golden-rods, and the Arnicas .' The land 

 would lose much of its charm in Autumn did not these bril- 

 liant blossoms blazon back the beams of the declining sun. 



S. triangularis, or (liant Ragwort, is a large coarse si)ecies 

 with closely set flower-heads and numerous long triangular 

 leaves, strongly veined, and sharply toothed at the edges. 



S. caniis, or Silvery Groundsel, is e.xactlv described b\ its 

 name, for it has white silk\' stems and leaxes lukI pale \ellow 

 flowers. It is a small plant and grows on the dr\ ojK-n 

 meadows. The basal leaxes luc oblong and liLive e\en mar- 

 gins, while the tin\' stem-lea\es aie slighth' toothed. 



6". lugcns, or Black-tipjX'd (iroundsel, is so called on account 

 of the conspicuous little black tij^s distinguishing the bracts 

 of its involucres, or green cu])s, which hold uj^ the deej) 

 amber-coloured flowers. The basal leaves are \ery long and 

 toothed ; the upper leaves cling closelv to the stem, and are 

 small, bract-like, and smooth. 



