132 



THE INDIANA WEED BOOK. 



Frequent in dense tufts or patches along banks, roadsides and 

 railways where it has escaped from cultivation. June-Sept. In 



the country it is a well known 

 plant which a half century ago was 

 grown for ornament much more 

 commonly than now. In many of 

 the eastern States it has spread 

 over upland meadows and pastures 

 until rt is accounted one of the 

 worst of weeds, and it is very likely 

 to do the same in Indiana. It has 

 a disagreeable odor and spreads 

 both by underground stems and 

 seeds, taking almost exclusive pos- 

 session of the soil. Although the 

 flowers are somewhat showy it is a 

 weed which should be destroyed 

 before it is too late to prevent ex- 

 tensive spreading. Remedies : con- 

 tinuous cultivation and heavy crop- 



cutting Several times each 



Fig. 94. Showing flower and seed 



season and then salting or using coal-oil or sulphuric acid on the 

 rootstocks. 



OS. SCROPHULARIA MARYLANDICA L. PileWOrt 



Stem slender, 4-angled, erect, widely 

 branched, 3-10 feet high; leaves ovate, 

 long-stalked, pointed, sharply toothed, 

 3-12 inches long. Flowers small, nu- 

 merous, in loose, compound cymes; 

 corolla irregular or somewhat 2-lipped, 

 dull green without, brownish-purple 

 within, the upper lip erect, the lower 

 spreading ; perfect stamens 4, the fifth 

 represented by a deep purple scale on 

 the roof of the corolla tube. Capsule 

 egg-shaped, many-seeded. Seeds dull 

 brown, 1/32 inch long, grooved and 

 roughened. (Fig. 95.) 



Figwort. (P. N. 3.) 



Fig. 95. Single flower above; fruit below. 

 (After Britton and Brown.) 



Frequent along fence-rows, bor- 

 ders of thickets and damp woods in 

 rich moist soil. June-Oct. It varies 

 greatly in height and date of blooming. The name Scrophularia 

 was given this or a closely allied plant because it is used as a remedy 

 for scrofula and other skin diseases, also as an anodyne to allay 



