YELLOW 



cant flowers. For my own part I rarely notice this plant during 

 its period of blossoming, although my eye is constantly arrested 

 by its feathery seed-clusters during the fruiting season. 



YELLOW THISTLE. 



Cnicus horridulus. Composite Family. 



Stem. Stout ; one to three feet high. Leaves. Partly clasping; deeply 

 cut; the toothed and cut lobes spiny with yellowish prickles. Flower- 

 Jieads. Pale yellow or purple ; composed entirely of tubular flowers ; sur- 

 rounded by leaf-like, prickly bracts. 



In sandy fields near the coast the yellow thistle blossoms dur- 

 ing the later summer. 



GOLDEN-ROD. 



Solidago. Composite Family. 

 Ffaver-heads. Golden-yellow; composed of both ray and disk-flowers. 



About eighty species of golden-rod are native to the United 

 States ; of these forty-two species can be found in our North- 

 eastern States. Many of them are difficult of identification, 

 and it would be useless to describe any but a few of the more 

 conspicuous forms. 



A common and noticeable species which flowers early in 

 August is S. Canadensis, with a tall, stout, rough stem from 

 three to six feet high, lance-shaped leaves, which are usually 

 sharply toothed and pointed, and small flower-heads clustered 

 along the branches which spread from the upper part of the stem. 



Another early flowering species is S. rugosa. This is a lowei 

 plant than S. Canadensis^ with broader leaves. 



Still another is the dusty golden-rod, S. nemoralis, which has 

 a hoary aspect and very bright yellow flowers which are com- 

 mon in dry fields. 



S. juncea is also an early bloomer. Its lower leaves are lanceo- 

 late or oval, with sharp, spreading teeth and long, winged leaf- 



187 



