28 



NATURE STUDY 



dusty roadsides. It is an excellent flower to study with 

 children who have already mastered the floral parts, 

 because no other common composite, except the sun- 

 flower, shows so clearly the structure. The ovary is 

 large ; above it are the small chaffy scales which make 



up the calyx; the cor- 

 olla is, of course, easily 

 seen; the stamens with 

 the heads or anthers 

 united are exception- 

 ally plain, and above 

 them rises the pistil 

 with its stigma, two- 

 cleft when ripe. 



GoLDENROD : The 

 flowers of the golden- 

 rod are much too small 

 to be studied botani- 

 cally ; but the plant 

 itself may be made 

 interesting by compar- 

 ing the common spe- 

 cies, noting particu- 

 larly their differences, 

 which are obvious, 

 though the ordinary 

 observer will, with difficulty, believe that there are some 

 forty -two native eastern species, of which at least a dozen 

 are common. It would be a profitable lesson to collect 

 sufficient of two or three different kinds for the children 

 to compare them, giving the differences. 



Notice particularly the stem, which may be rough, 

 hairy, or smooth, — gray, blue, or green, — unbranched, 



Goldenrods, showing some of their different 

 habits of growth. 1. Early Goldenrod. 

 2. S. rugosa. 3. Elm-leaved Goldenrod 

 (S. ulmiflora). 4. S. lanceolata. 5, S. 

 canadensis. 6. Blue-stemmed Golden- 

 rod (S. caesia). 



