COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



415 



WOOLLY ELEPHANT'S FOOT 

 Elephdntopus tomentdsus, L. 



Other English names: Tobacco Weed, Devil's Grandmother. 

 Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom : June to August. 

 Seed-time: August to October. 



Range : Virginia to Arkansas, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Habitat : Rich moist soils ; woodlands ; tobacco, corn, and cotton 

 fields. 



This weed is fond of shade and makes itself a special nuisance in 

 tobacco fields, where the tall plants overshadow it, while its broad, 

 basal, tufted leaves and deep roots absorb much of the soil's fertility 

 and are difficult to remove without injury to the crop, of which 

 the larger, lower leaves are. the 

 most valuable part, and must be 

 guarded asmuchaspossibleagainst 

 any mutilation. (Fig. 290.) 



Stem erect, rigid, hairy, one to 

 two feet high, simple or with a 

 few forking branches. Lower 

 leaves four to ten inches long, 

 two to four inches wide, and 

 spread flat on the ground ; they 

 are broadly obovate, blunt- 

 pointed, tapering to the base, 

 heavily veined, scallop-toothed, 

 and softly woolly-hairy all over. 

 Simple stems are usually leafless, 

 but where forked there is a small, 

 sessile, lance-shaped leaf. Heads 

 two- to five-flowered, the florets 

 all alike, fertile, tubular, five- 

 lobed but deeply cleft on the 

 inner side, pale purple. Below 

 each head are three heart-shaped, 

 large, leaf-like, and hairy bracts. 



Achenes oblong, ten-ridged, with FlQ 290 ._ Hairy Elephant . 8 Foot 

 a pappus of stiff, slender bristles. (Elephantopus tomentosus). x i. 



