J&f&summer JFlotoers an* Voices. 293 



in early spring forming a large bush by August. 

 The flowers are always larger on young plants ; 

 after the second year they diminish in size, when 

 the plants should be divided. Rudbeckia hirta, 

 the orange-daisy of the fields, would be desirable 

 were it not so common a weed. R. specie sa or 

 Newmani is a preferable form, being a stronger 

 plant, and less straggling in habit. R. nitida, a 

 taller-growing plant, is one of the best of its 

 class, extremely showy in masses, though it lacks 

 the dark contrasting cone that characterizes the 

 other forms specified. 



Much resembling some of the perennial sun- 

 flowers is Silphium perfoliatum, one of the sev- 

 eral coarse, tall-growing rosin-plants, flowering 

 in July and August. It has huge leaves, great 

 clusters of large lemon-yellow blossoms, and 

 grows seven to ten feet high. For stately and 

 brilliant effect it has no rival during latter Au- 

 gust, forming a golden cloud of flower, the more 

 striking from its tall stalks and deep -green 

 foliage. The most remarkable of the genus is 

 S. lacimatum, the compass-plant of the prairies, 

 which is said to have the peculiarity of turning 

 the edges of its lower leaves north and south, 

 but this is not noticed in cultivation. This 

 grows from eight to twelve feet high, having 

 large yellow flowers and immense leaves. Other 



