Plants, Helpful and Harmful 533 



States Department of Agriculture as poisonous are wild cherry, 

 bittersweet, corn cockle, dwarf larkspur, great laurel, jimson 

 weed, rattlebox, poison ivy, poison sumac, poison hemlock and 

 snow-on-the-mountain. 



Among the plants classed as weeds found in this country are 

 burdock, Canada thistle, chickweed, dandelion, devil's paintbrush, 

 milkweed, purslane, ragweed, smartweed, white daisy, wild carrot, 

 yellow daisy and yellow dock. In New York State the cutting 

 of weeds between fences and the highway is required by law in 

 order to check their spreading and to prevent the aid they give 

 to the making of snowdrifts in winter. 



SUMMARY 



Beneficial plants include all those that produce materials for 

 food, shelter, clothing, medicine and ornament. 



The food-producing plants include all cereals as well as other 

 starch and sugar-yielding plants such as arrowroot and sugar cane 

 and many fruit trees. 



The wood-producing plants include all large trees from which 

 lumber may be manufactured. 



The plants that yield material for clothing are those that have 

 fibrous tissue, such as cotton and flax. 



There are many plants from which medicine is obtained, such 

 as the cinchona and camphor trees and various herbs. 



Among ornamental plants are the Austrian pine, the American 

 elm and numerous shrubs and small flowering plants. 



Non-beneficial plants include certain poisonous plants and 

 weeds. 



FACT AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS 



1. Mention ten plants that provide man with starch and protein. 



2. Name several forage plants. 



3. Name several fiber-producing plants and state the special use of each. 



4. Name several beverage-producing plants. 



5. Name several dye-producing plants. 



6. Name several medicinal plants. 



7. Name several oil-producing plants. 



8. Tell how we draw on distant parts of the earth for plant material 

 used in our daily life. 



