I08 SOLIDAGO ULMIFOLIA. ELM-LEAVED GOLDEN-ROD. 



been quite famous as a dye. Another of the old herbalists, 

 Culpeper, says : " Venus rules this herb. It is a balsamic vulner- 

 ary herb, long famous against inward hurts and bruises. No 

 preparation is better than a tea of this herb for this service ; and 

 the young leaves, green or dry, have the most Virtue." Lin- 

 naeus admits it into his " Materia Medica " as a vulnerary and 

 diuredc. It is among the most remarkable of medical facts, that 

 a plant, which was once so famous as to elicit such strong com- 

 mendadon, and to have a name given to it in connecdon with 

 this reputadon, should now be wholly discarded from medical 

 practice. 



Our species, 5. nlmifoHa, has litde to call especial attention to 

 beyond what it might share with other species of the genus. It 

 is one of the most common kinds in Eastern Pennsylvania 

 where the plant illustrated grew. Its most striking character- 

 isdc is perhaps its large, open, branching stalks. Most of the 

 familiar species of this region have their flowers in dense heads 

 terminating the main flower stem ; but this one begins to throw 

 out slender branchlets, such as the one illustrated, low down on 

 the stem ; and there are many scores of these twiggy dividing 

 branchlets in the make-up of the complete flower stalk. One of 

 these main stems, often two feet high, covered with expanded 

 flowers, is very showy indeed. It loves to grow in half-shaded 

 woods, or in rather low, open places. In such situadons it is 

 often met with in most of the States from Alabama northwards. 



Explanation of the Plate.— i. Upper portion of a mam flowering stem. 2. Lo\v< 

 of the same. 3. Enlarged disk floret. 4. A small branchlet. 



