YELLOW 



dawning year frequently wear the livery of the snow which had 

 thrown its protecting mantle over their first efforts ? And these 

 newcomers whose gross, rotund countenances so clearly betray 

 the results of high living do not they pay their respects to their 

 great benefactor after the same fashion ? with the result that a 

 myriad miniature suns shine upward from meadow and roadside. 



The stout, mucilaginous root of this plant is valued by farm- 

 ers as a horse-medicine, especially in epidemics of epizootic, one 

 of its common names in England being horse-heal. 



In ancient times the elecampane was considered an impor- 

 tant stimulant to the human brain and stomach, and it was men- 

 tioned as such in the writings of Hippocrates, the " Father of 

 Medicine," over two thousand years ago. 



The common name is supposed to be a corruption of ala 

 campania, and refers to the frequent occurrence of the plant in 

 that ancient province of Southern Italy. 



FALL DANDELION. 



Leontodon autumnalis. Composite Family (p. 13). 



Scape. Five to fifteen inches high, branching. Leaves. From the root, 

 toothed or deeply incised. Flower-heads. Yellow, composed entirely of 

 strap-shaped flowers ; smaller than those of the common dandelion. 



From June till November we find the fall dandelion along 

 the New England roadsides, as well as farther south. While 

 the yellow flower-heads somewhat suggest small dandelions the 

 general habit of the plant recalls some of the hawkweeds. 



WILD SUNFLOWER. 



Helianthus gigantcus. Composite Family (p. 13). 



Stem. Rough or hairy, from three to ten feet high, branched above. 

 Leaves. Lance-shaped, pointed, rough to the touch, set close to the stem. 

 Flower-heads. Yellow, composed of both ray and disk-flowers. 



In late summer many of our lanes are hedged by this beauti- 

 ful plant, which, like other members of its family, lifts its yellow 

 flowers sunward in pale imitation of the great lifegiver itself. 

 We have twenty-two different species of sunflower. If. divari- 



