224 LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



Means of control 



Let the infested meadows be cleansed by fire, burning them over 

 in August or at the time of maturing seeds, thus destroying all this 

 year's plants and their progeny while not seriously harming the 

 roots of the perennial grasses. If next year some seeds that have 

 lain dormant in the soil spring up, see that the plants are either cut 

 or pulled before seed development. Or, if too numerous for that, 

 repeat the flaming purification. On lands that are not in danger of 

 washing and can safely be put under the plow, a cultivated crop 

 requiring careful hoe-culture should be grown before reseeding 

 heavily with better forage. No annual plant so- dangerous to the 

 health of grazing animals should be allowed to survive. 



DYER'S GREENWEED 

 Genista tinctoria, L. 



Other English names: Woad-waxen, Dyer's 

 Broom, Dyer's Whin, Base Broom, Alleluia. 



Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 

 and by woody, creeping rootstocks. 



Time of bloom: June to July. 



Seed-time: July to August. 



Range: Maine to Massachusetts and eastern 

 New York. 



Habitat: Dry uplands. 



Time was when the clothing of a New Eng- 

 land household was spun, woven, and dyed at 

 home ; then the Genista was cultivated as a 

 useful and necessary plant. Used by itself, it 

 colored woolen cloth yellow; combined with 

 Woad (I satis tinctoria), a blue-dye plant of 

 the Mustard Family, it dyed green. But, its 

 usefulness gone, it was left uncared for and 

 "escaped," becoming so abundant in some 

 localities that dry upland pastures are some- 

 times yellow in summer with its bloom. Cattle 

 F ifio D ' ^^ eat ** wnen otner forage is scarce, with the 

 Greenweed (Genista result that its bitter taste is imparted to 

 tinctoria). the dairy products. (Fig. 160.) 



