COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composite. 



Burdock A familiar, rank-odored weed, common 



Arctium Lappa in all waste places, with large, dull green, 

 Light magenta veiny leaves, the lower heart-shaped, the 

 July-October upper O vate ; woolly beneath. The 

 globular flower-head a hooked-bristled green bur with 

 magenta or often nearly white, perfect, tubular florets 

 with a five-cleft tip. The depth of color can only be ap- 

 preciated with the aid of a magnifying glass. The stem 

 is generally much branched. 4-8 feet high. About ru- 

 ins of old dwellings or in waste places. Me. to southern 

 N. Y., and west. The var. tomentosum, a very woolly 

 stemmed form, is local and rare. Westford, Mass. 



A smaller species, with smaller, gener- 

 Smaller 

 Burdock *"& narrower leaves, the lower ones deeply 



Arctium minus heart - shaped, their stems hollow and 

 Light magenta hardly furrowed ; flower - heads almost 

 July-October stem i ess on the branches, about f inch 

 broad. The inner spines erect and shorter than the lilac 

 pink or light magenta or white florets. 2-5 feet high. 

 Common. Both species are naturalized from Europe. 



A biennial species naturalized from Eu- 

 rope, generally found in pastures. The 

 Cirsium narrow, white-spiny, dark green leaves 



lanceolatum hug the plant-stem for an inch or so with 

 Magenta prickly wings, the upper surface prickly - 



July-October hairy> the lower we bby-woolly with light 

 brownish fine hairs. The green flower-envelop is armed 

 with spreading spines ; the perfect, tubular florets, 

 densely clustered, vary from (rarely white) crimson- 

 magenta to light magenta ; the pollen is white. Flowers 

 remarkably sweet-scented, rich in honey, and fertilized 

 mostly by the bumblebees (often becoming intoxicated) 

 and butterflies. Heads sometimes 3 inches broad, gener- 

 ally solitary at the ends of the branches. 2-4 feet high. 

 Common, but south only to Ga. 



A species with light corn yellow (rarely 

 Thistle magenta), flattish flower-heads nearly 3 



Cirsium inches broad ; it is exceedingly plentiful 



horridulum i n the salt marshes of Long Island and 

 Corn yellow New Jersey The oblong lance-shaped, 

 May-August ,, , , , 



light green leaves smooth, clasping, and 



520 



