COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composite. 



An asterlike but golden yellow flower 

 Goiden^ster g rowin g in dl T soil generally near the 

 or Silver Grass coast - Tne shining leaves linear, soft, and 

 Chrysopsis grasslike, but silvery green-gray with fine- 

 graminifolia hairiness, the lower ones long. The small 

 Golden yellow fl owe rs -| inch broad, solitary at the tips of 

 October" ^ ne branches, the ray-flowers pistillate, 



the disc-flowers perfect. The slender stem 

 1-3 feet high. Del., south, and southwest to Tex. 



A much lower species with larger flow- 



Goidra Aster d 6rS? als found in the coastwise States. 

 Chrysopsis Tne stems very woolly, and the small lin- 

 falcata ear leaves gray-green and crowded to- 



Golden yellow gether. The pretty, rich golden yellow 



Late uly- flowers are an inch broad. 4-10 inches 

 August 



high. From Cape Cod, Mass., to the pine 



barrens of N. J. Found on Nantucket. 



A stout, showy species, the stem and 



Chrysopsis 



Mariana leaves of which are silky with soft hairs 



Golden yellow when young, but become smooth with 

 August- age. The gray-green leaves are lance- 



September shaped and stemless, and the golden yel- 

 low flower-heads are nearly an inch across, the scales 

 below somewhat sticky and hairy. The commoner 

 golden aster of New York and the south, found on dry 

 sandy roadsides near the coast. 1-2 feet high. From 

 southern N. Y. and Pa., south. 



The genus Solidago includes about 85 species, of 

 which about 25 are commonly found throughout the 

 northern United States. These are readily distinguished 

 by differences in stem, leaf, and flower ; the stem may 

 be rough, smooth, covered with hairs, or with bloom, or 

 angular, or round ; the leaf may be triple-ribbed, feather- 

 veined, or more or less distinctly ribbed or toothed ; the 

 flowers may have few or many large or small rays. The 

 central tubular florets are perfect, and are cross-fertil- 

 ized by many insects of many orders, chief among which 

 are the butterflies and the beelike flies ; the flowers fur- 

 nish an abundance of honey for all. The Latin name, 

 Solidago, means to make whole, alluding to some cura- 

 tive quality of the plant. There are some hybrid forms. 

 472 



