92 COMMON WEEDS 



is hollow and conical, and there are no bracts among 

 the flowers. 



Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria inodora L.), also called 

 Corn Feverfew and Horse Daisy, is a common annual 

 or biennial weed of arable land and waste ground on 

 all soils (Fig. 25). The stem is branched and angular, 

 the leaves much cut and hair-like, and the heads soli- 

 tary, and larger than in M. Chamomilla, being 2 inches 

 in diameter. The whole plant is odourless, or nearly 

 so. Flowering lasts from June to October. 



These four weeds may all prove troublesome if 

 allowed to seed, and, as all are annual or biennial, the 

 chief method of reducing them consists in preventing 

 seeding. This may be done by hoeing and surface 

 cultivation in spring, by pulling up the growing plants 

 so long as practicable in standing corn, and by the 

 growth and thorough cultivation of root crops two 

 in succession if necessary. 



Corn Marigold or Yellow Ox-eye (Chrysanthemum 

 segetum L.) is a beautiful but destructive annual weed, 

 i to ii feet high. It (Fig. 24) is smooth, light grey 

 in appearance, and little branched. The leaves are 

 somewhat oblong, toothed and lobed, the lower pinnate 

 and stalked and the upper clasping the stem. The flower 

 heads are golden-yellow, including the outer or ray- 

 florets, and nearly 2 inches across ; they open between 

 June and September, or even October. The " seeds," 

 which are produced in large numbers, are very light, 

 and easily blown from field to field ; they are said 

 also to lie dormant like the seeds of Charlock ; by 

 reason of these facts the weed is very difficult to 

 extirpate completely. Both seeds and flower heads 

 are stated to be poisonous, and chaff containing many 

 should be burnt and not given to stock. Thaer states J 



1 Landw. Unkrduter. 



