SOME IMPORTANT FAMILIES OF ANGIOSPERMS 311 



Drugs are obtained from the boneset, burdock, camomile, 

 dandelion, calendula, arnica, echinacea, elecampane, tansy, 

 and wormwood. Pyre thrum or insect powder is made from 

 the dried flower heads of several composites. Wormwood is 

 used in the preparation of the alcoholic drinks known as 

 absinth and vermouth. The milky juice of a shrub known as 

 guayule, which grows abundantly in certain parts of Mexico, 

 is a source of rubber. Some of our commonest wild plants 

 and weeds belonging to the composite family are the golden- 

 rods, asters, wild sunflowers, coneflowers, ragweeds, and 

 thistles, the hawkweeds, the beggar ticks, the dandelion, 

 the yarrow, the may-weed, the cocklebur, the burdock, the 

 wild lettuce, sagebrush, tansy, and chicory. 



