COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composite. 



A more attractive species with light 

 golden yellow rays, which, whenper/ecf, 

 Bidens are ra ther showy. The flowers sometimes 



lavis over 2 inches broad. Leaves narrow lance- 



Yellow shaped and coarsely toothed. Seed-ves- 



August- gelg with 2_ 4 prongs 10-24: inches high. 



October 



In swamps and wet places. N. Eng. , south, 



and west to Minn. All three species are annuals. 



A nearly smooth plant ^vith toothed, 

 Helenium lance-shaped, alternate leaves and decora- 



autumnale tively handsome flowers, 1-2 inches broad, 

 Yellow with the toothed, golden yellow rays 



turned considerably backward ; the globu- 

 lar disc is yellow and chaffy, the drooping 

 petals pistillate and fertile ; cross-fertilized mostly by 

 bees. 2-6 feet high. Common in wet meadows and on 

 river-banks everywhere. 



A daisy like flower about an inch broad, 

 Mayweed or 

 Chamomile with white, three- toothed, neutral rays (i. 



Anthemis e., without stamens o: pistils) and a yel- 



Cotula low disc, which becomes elongated with 



whlte age. The small leaves, cut and slashed to 



June-October . , . . 



absolute formlessness, are remarkable for 



their disagreeable odor and acrid taste ; used in making 

 a horrible concoction called "chamomile tea." 8-20 

 inches high. Common about dwellings and on road- 

 sides everywhere ; a native of Europe. 



A very familiar roadside weed adventive 

 Milfoil^ from Europe, with remarkable gray olive 



Achiilea green, feathery, dissected, stemless leaves 



Miliefoiium of a rather long-oval outline, and pleas- 

 Gray=white antly aromatic, minute, grayish white 

 June-October flowerg in fl a t_t O pped clusters. The gray, 

 green, stout, and tough stem is fine-hairy. The perfect 

 disc -florets are at first yellowish, but finally gray- 

 brown ; the 4-6 pistillate rays are white, or rarely crim- 

 son-pink. Fertilized mostly by bees and the smaller 

 butterflies ; chief among the latter is the yellow Colias 

 phiJodice. 1-2 feet high. Common everywhere, by the 

 wayside and in fields ; probably native in the west, 

 where it is more fine-hairy and less green. 



514 



