230 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



a glance. We will call one a feather-veined leaf and 

 the other a three-ribbed leaf. All the golden-rods, 

 therefore, can be divided into two groups distin- 

 guished apart by the kind of leaf. Beyond this 

 leaf difference there are other distinguishing charac- 

 teristics of the plants which are to be referred to the 

 flowers and the plant stems ; these are not difficult 

 to discover.* The questions which naturally arise as 

 we pursue our investigations are these : 



1. Is the leaf smooth or rough-hairy ? 



2. Is it plain-edged, or toothed, or both i. e., 

 " half and half " ? 



3. Is the stem of the plant straight or angled ? 



4. Is it woolly or smooth, or covered with a plum- 

 like bloom ? 



5. Is it cylindrical or angular if cut in a cross 

 section ? 



6. How many little petals (rays) are there on one 

 floret ? 



7. Do the flowers grow in feathery plumes, or in 

 flat-topped clusters, or in little bunches along the 

 stem ? 



Each golden-rod common on the roadside I will 

 describe after the order suggested by these questions. 



* A magnifying glass is an almost indispensable aid in the 

 solution of these little botanical problems. 



