GOLDEN-ROD AND ASTERS. 233 



smooth, and toothed only along the upper half of the 

 edge ; they are narrow and sharp-pointed. Stem 

 stout, smooth, perfectly straight, cylindrical, and 

 very often covered with a plumlike bloom, but some- 

 times light green. The stems of the little flower 

 clusters are covered with the tiniest of white hairs. 

 Flower small, light golden yellow, with seven to 

 fourteen long rays. Flower clusters spread cylin- 

 drically at the top of an unbranched stem. A taller 

 species than the preceding, rarely reaching a height 

 of six feet, common beside fences and in copses. Not 

 found at the seaside. 



4. Solidago nemoralis. Gray golden-rod ; the 

 Latin name means belonging to the woods. Blooms 

 about the tenth of August. Leaves three-ribbed, 

 covered with minute grayish hairs, broad lance- 

 shaped, dull-toothed, somewhat wider at one end 

 than the other ; the lower ones taper very narrow- 

 ly toward the stem. The stem is gray, covered with 

 tiny grayish hairs, and is always simple, never 

 branched. Flower deep golden yellow, with five to 

 nine rays. Flower clusters crowded together form- 

 ing a one-sided plume gracefully curved. This spe- 

 cies possesses the most brilliant color of all the 

 golden-rods ; it rarely reaches a height of over two 

 feet, and is common beside the road and in the 

 pastures. Its thinly leaved, single stem is, on the 



