104 WEEDS OF ESSEX COUNTY; BY JOHN H. SEARS. 



cum grows abundantly in wet meadows, and Equisetum hyemale the 

 Scouring Rush, on river banks and near brooks. They are all weeds 

 on reclaimed meadow-land. When cut and dried with hay, cows eat 

 them with a greedy relish. 



ORDER Filices. 



Ferns. There are several species which are considered as weeds : 

 Osmunda regalis, Osmunda Claytoniana, Osmunda cinnamomea, Pteris 

 aquilina and several species of Aspidium are all called Buckhorn, 

 Brake, etc. They are all noxious weeds, being poisonous to young 

 horses when mixed with hay, and they are not relished by other 

 cattle, though goats will thrive on them better than on English hay. 



ORDER Musci. 



The Mosses are small plants not distinguishable except by the 

 botanist. The Hair Cap Moss, Polytrlchum commune, in dry, sterile 

 pastures, covers many acres, forcing the grass out entirely and leaving 

 a complete carpet of the moss. Some species of Hypnwm will persist 

 and make a rapid growth even in cultivated fields ; others are parasitic 

 on the bark of trees and are injurious to orchards as hiding places for 

 insects. 



ORDER Lichens. 



Lichens are parasitic on dead wood and decayed vegetable matter. 

 The Reindeer Moss, Cladonia rangiferina, completely covers some 

 sections of our old pasture-land in Danvers and Wenham, making 

 them entirely destitute of other vegetable growths and worthless as 

 grazing land. Other lichens on trees in the orchard and in the 

 woods form hiding-places for insects, where they deposit their eggs. 



