292 PLANTS GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 



spreading around on the ground like a rosette ; veined conspicuously with 

 purple. Flower-stalk : one to two inches high ; naked, or bearing one leaf ; 

 slender or forked above. 



The prevailing idea that the leaves of the hawkweed re- 

 semble the rattlesnake, serve better to identify it from its 

 numerous relatives, than which it is by far more interesting, 

 than to recall to mind the dreadful creature for which it is 

 named, or to remove the venom of his bite. 



The plant grows in dry soil, sometimes by the waysides, in 

 the meadows, or in the open woods, 



If. Greenii, Green's hawkweed, has spatulate, tufted, basal 

 leaves which narrow into a petiole. It is found in the dry soil 

 of the mountains of Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. 



FIELD SOW THISTLE. 



Sonchus arvensis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Ckicory. Brigkt yellow. Scentless. Occasional in the eastern Suimt'>-. 



and middle states^ 



Flower-heads: large; showy ; clustered closely together and bursting out 

 later into a soft, downy pappus. Involucre : of numerous strap-like scales. 

 Leaves : long, pointed, blade-like ; clasping by a heart-shaped base ; saw-toothed. 

 Stem : one to three feet high ; branched ; hollow ; bristly. 



In dry fields and along roadsides ; in salt meadows and by 

 streams we find this showy, coarse weed. It has come to us 

 from Europe and is also a native of Asia. Every year it ex- 

 tends its range and becomes more common. The flower opens 

 at five o'clock in the morning, begins to close at about eleven 

 o'clock and by noon it has enti'rely shut out the world. 



BLACK=EYED SUSAN. CONE=FLOWER. 



Ritdbeckia hirta. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Composite. Deep yellow, purple centre. Scentless. General. Midsummer. 



Flower-heads : large ; terminal ; solitary and composed of both ray and disk 

 flowers ; the former often one and three quarter inches long, the latter arranged 

 in the form of a cone and chocolate brown in colour. Leaves: lanceolate; 

 narrow ; rough and disagreeable to the touch ; the lower ones on petioles, 

 the upper ones sessile. Stem : one to two feet high; rough ; usually branching. 



