37^ Prairie Flora 



spikes and purplish flowers making it look something like red clover. 

 Astragalus lotiflorus, Hook, is found on dry banks, or near the tops of 

 bluffs where the ground is very dry and hard. In suitable locations 

 it is quite plentiful. The flowers are inconspicuous. Astragalus mis- 

 souriensis Nutt., while not admitted into the new edition of Gray has 

 been collected at Ortonville. The "Illustrated Flora" gives its range 

 as from Nebraska to the Northwest Territory and south to New Mexico. 

 It seems to be native at Ortonville, and not an introduced plant. 

 Astragalus flexuosus Doug, has been collected at Montevideo and is 

 very plentiful near the railway station at Ortonville. Oxytropis lam- 

 herti, Pursh. is a very showy plant on bluffs throughout the upper 

 Minnesota valley. It has been called a loco weed, but I have never 

 heard of stock being poisoned by it. Onosmodium hispidissimum, 

 Mackenzie, is very common throughout this district. It was impossi- 

 ble to make our plant agree with any of the descriptions in the old 

 manuals and it is some satisfaction to know that there is a new species 

 for it. Gaura coccinea is not an uncommon plant here. Its rose or 

 scarlet flowers make it very beautiful. Oenothera serrulata is another 

 June plant very common along bluffs. Its yellow flowers remain 

 open all day. Our larkspur seems to be Delphinium azureum, and it 

 too, is quite conspicuous along the bluffs in June. 



Two yellow flaxes are very noticeable along the bluffs during July 

 — Linum rigidum and Linum sulcatum. Ascelepias verticillata is 

 often found on bluffs and may be counted a bluff plant, although it is 

 found on level prairies as well. Another mid-summer plant found on 

 bluffs and high rolling prairies is Brauneria angustifolia, noticeable 

 for its large heads and long purplish rays. This plant was known to 

 old frontiersmen as thirst weed. Its gray-colored thickened roots 

 were used by early travelers as an antidote for thirst. Taken into 

 the mouth it has a salty, peppery taste, increasing the flow of saliva 

 so that the weary treveler forgets that there is no good drinking water 

 to be had. Coreopsis palmata is another July Composite, quite showy 

 and beautiful. In dry sandy places one is quite sure to find the golden 

 aster, Ghrpsopsis villosa, with its rough gray leaves and branches and 

 yellow flowers. Another July bluff plant is the green milk weed, 

 Acerates viridiflora lanceolata. A typical xerophytic plant found on 

 sandy bluffs is Lygodesmia juncea. It has scarcely any leaves and 

 seems to delight in the dryest and most sterile soil. Quite a rare 

 plant on dry sandy bluffs is Oe^iothera pallida, a white flov/ered evening 

 primrose. It has shreddy white bark. Our horsemiiit appears to ba 

 Monarda mollis and is found on dry banks in early August. Polygala 

 verticillata, with greenish flowers, is found on dry ground. It is not 

 a conspicuous plant, and is one that is apt to be overlooked. Artemisia 

 frigida is found on the dryest bluffs, sometimes whitening the whole 

 bluff side, as seen from a distance. Artemisia longifolia is quite com- 

 mon in similar locations. A not uncommon aster on the bluff lands 

 is Aster ohlongifolius, with beautiful purple flow^ers. Another strik- 

 ing plant of the bluffs is Aster sericius with silvery silky leaves. 

 Kuhnias are very common plants on the bluffs. Our plant seems to 

 be Kuhnia eupatoroides. The attempt to separate this variable species 

 into two or more species seems to have ended in failure. The blazing 



