SEPTEMBER 57 



purple, and amethyst, as well as distinctly varied 

 in height of stem, size and style of head, and social 

 habit. Bring a sprig of prairie goklenrod to a 

 southern maiden, and one may likely hear her say : 

 *'AVhy, that isn't anything like our Georgia gold- 

 enrod.'' Repeat the process with a girl of On- 

 tario, and she may exclaim, ^'Perhaps this is your 

 goldenrod, but it isn't half so fine as our Canadian 

 species." Among our own varieties, the flat- 

 topped ones look heavy and plebeian compared 

 with those of more delicate racemose inflores- 

 cence; and the zigzag has quite an unusual and 

 freakish appearance, suggestive of humorous ca- 

 price in nature when she planned its form. Surely 

 one of the most brilliant asters now in bloom is the 

 ^^New England." It is abundant along the roads 

 about Charles City, and near Beulah its deep red- 

 purple blossoms were grouped for miles and miles 

 on both sides of the railroad, in one place making 

 a unified color effect in a meadow an acre or more 

 in extent. It sometimes has a strong but not un- 

 pleasant scent. Goldenrods and asters are among 

 the last flowers to fail before the winter cold in 

 the prairie country, as popular poetry has often 

 recorded.^ 



The coneflowers are out in force. In woods near 

 the shore of Clear Lake, a great clump of the 

 ^'tall" species merited the popular name, for some 



9 See A|)penflix, Note o. 



