546 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



and narrowed to winged petioles, those on the stem sessile and 

 clasping, sometimes auricled at base. Heads on large, loose, 

 many-headed panicles, with diverging branchlets which usually 

 have a few minute, scaly bracts ; each less than a half-inch broad 

 with short blue rays ; bracts of the involucre obtuse, the outer row 

 much the shorter. Achenes oblong, small, rather thick, without a 

 beak ; pappus silky white. 



Means of control 



Deep cutting of autumn tufts of leaves from the roots with spud 

 or hoe ; close cutting of all flowering stalks before the development 

 of seed. 



TALL BLUE LETTUCE 

 Lactuca spicata, Hitchc. 



Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : July to October. 



Seed-time: August to November. 



Range: Newfoundland to Manitoba, southward to the Carolinas, 



Tennessee, and Iowa. 

 Habitat: Meadows, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



A conspicuous weed, its stem three to twelve feet tall, full of 

 bitter milky juice, stout, round, smooth, very leafy up to the large, 

 rather dense, compound panicle. Leaves six inches to a foot long, 

 two to six inches wide, deeply and irregularly lobed, sharply toothed, 

 smooth above but sometimes slightly hairy on the veins beneath, 

 those on the stem sessile, clasping, and auriculate, the lower ones 

 narrowed to winged petioles. Heads very small, about a quarter- 

 inch broad, the rays usually pale blue but sometimes cream- 

 colored. Achenes slightly flattened, very short-beaked, the 

 pappus tawny brown. 



Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 



RUSH-LIKE LYGODESMIA 

 Lygodesmia jtincea, D. Don. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom: June to August. 



