484 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Means of control 



Prevent seed production by close cutting or hand-pulling when 

 the plant is in first bloom. 



BLANKET FLOWER 

 Gailldrdia aristata, Pursh. 



Other English name: Great-flowered Gaillardia. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: May to September. 



Seed-time: June to October. 



Range: Minnesota to British Columbia, southward to Colorado, 



New Mexico, and Texas. 

 Habitat : Plains and prairies ; mead- 

 ows and pastures. 



This plant is cultivated in eastern 

 flower gardens for its beauty, and 

 frequently escapes to roadsides and 

 fields where it rivals Black-eyed 

 Susan for showiness. Stems one to 

 three feet tall, sometimes branched 

 but usually simple, very slender, 

 clothed with jointed hairs. Leaves 

 rather thick, also finely hairy, the 

 basal ones with petioles ; they are 

 exceedingly variable, some being 

 lance-shaped, others spatulate ; 

 some deeply cut, even pinnatifid, 

 others entire; some plants have 

 leaves all basal, while others have a 

 few stem leaves which are sessile. 

 Heads large, two to four inches 

 across, the rounded disk of a pur- 

 plish brown, the tubular florets with 

 fringed lobes and protruding forked 

 styles, also reddish brown, very long 



FIG. 336. Blanket Flower (Gail- and fine ; rays yellow, long, wedge- 

 shaped, toothed at the tips ; bracts 



lardia aristata). X J. 



