YELLOW GROUP 



than that employed by sticktights, which depend upon 

 animals for their dispersal. In damp ground, preferring rich 

 soil and some shade, in all the Eastern States. (See illustra- 

 tion, p. 184.) 



Spotted Touch-me-not 



/. biflora. — This species is deeper yellow, more spotted, with a 

 longer and narrower sac and spur than the last. The two are 

 often found growing together, in wet soil, along roadsides where 

 springs run, or in wet dells, where these plants mass themselves. 



Scarcely any plant by its numerous common names proves 

 itself dearer to the common people. Lady's eardrops, silver- 

 leaf, touch-me-not, lady's slipper, refer to the pendent blos- 

 som, or the silvery appearance of the leaf when held under 

 water, or the seeming touchiness of the pod, which, when 

 ripe, goes off with the slightest handling. 



Indian Mallow. Velvet Leaf 



Abutilon TheophrastL — Family, Mallow. Color, yellow. Calyx, 

 5 - cleft. Corolla, 5 - divided, the petals open and spreading, 

 nearly 1 inch across. Flowers, on stout peduncles, in the leaf- 

 axils. Stem, 3 to 6 feet high. Stamens, standing in a column 

 around the pistil, bearing anthers at the top. Ovary separates 

 into many cavities which are hairy and beaked. Leaves, broad, 

 tapering at tip to a sharp point, strongly heart-shaped, often 

 nearly a foot across, on long petioles. August to October. 



In waste places as vacant city lots, common especially in 

 the South, where it becomes a weed. 



Sida 



Sida spinosa. — Family, Mallow. Color, yellow. Calyx, 5- 

 cleft. Petals and styles, 5. Fruit, of 5 carpels united, each be- 

 coming 2-beaked at the top. Leaves, linear or lance-shaped, on 

 petioles, toothed. 



A low, branched plant getting its name from a spine-like 

 protuberance found at the base of some of the leaves. An 

 importation from the tropics, this plant is now found grow- 

 ing in waste fields of southern New York and to the west- 

 ward and southward. 



St. Peter's-wort 



Ascyrum starts. — Family, St. John's -wort. Color, yellow. 

 Sepals, 4, the 2 outer much broader than the inner, leaf-like. 

 Petals, 4, open, spreading. Stamens, many. Styles, 3 or 4. Fruit, 

 a pod, 1 - celled, but splitting into 2 to 4 pieces. Flowers, 



185 



