Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 387 



BURDOCK (Arctium minus) (EUROPEAN) is a 



very common plant on waste ground, along roadsides 

 and the edges of woods. The plant is often four 

 feet or more high. The lower leaves are very large, 

 often more than a foot in length, heart-shaped, deep 

 green and finely veined above, greyish beneath be- 

 cause of the fine wool that covers the under sur- 

 faces. The upper leaves are smaller, more ovate in 

 form and less densely woolly on the undersides. 

 The flowerheads grow in clusters at the ends of the 

 branches. The involucre is almost spherical, com- 

 posed of numerous bracts, each terminating in a 

 sharp, hooked point. Tubular florets, only, are seat- 

 ed within this involucre; they are purple and white 

 in color, and secrete an abundance of nectar, on 

 which account they are frequented by honey bees. 



We have seen how the Milkweed attaches to each 

 of its seeds, a little parachute so it may fly away on 

 the winds and found new colonies at a distance from 

 the parent plants. We have also seen how the Beg- 

 gar-tick and members of the Genus (Bidens) disperse 

 their seeds by attaching them to the hair of animals 

 or the clothing of man. The present species adopts 

 the policy of the Beggar-ticks, but instead of single 

 seeds, it attaches the whole bur-like head by means 

 of its numerous little hooks. They cling tenaciously 

 to everything they touch; doubtless most of my read- 

 ers recall massing these burs together to make cas- 

 tles, funny men, animals, etc. 



We have two species of this plant, the present, 

 and one slightly larger and with coarser leaves, (A. 

 Lappa). Both of them are immigrants from across 

 the water. 



