Midsummer 



suppose that the yellow rays of the om- 

 nipresent black-eyed Susan would droop 

 beneath the fierce ones which beat upon 

 them from above. Instead, they seem to 

 welcome the touch of a kinsman and to 

 gain vigor from the contact. One in- 

 stantly recognizes these flowers as mem- 

 bers of the great Composite family, a 

 tribe which is beginning to take almost 

 undisputed possession of many of our 

 fields ; that is, in relation to the floral 

 world, for the farmers are waging con- 

 stant war upon it. They are cousins of 

 the dandelions and daisies, of the golden- 

 rod and asters. 



The family name indicates that each 

 flower-head is composed of a number of 

 small flowers which are clustered so close- 

 ly as to give the effect of a single blos- 

 som. In the black-eyed Susan the brown 

 centre, the " black eye " itself, consists of 

 a quantity of tubular - shaped blossoms, 

 which are crowded upon a somewhat 

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