260 FLORA OF THE PRAIRIES. 



several Composite^ ; the Liatris, with their violet flowers and long 

 spiky bunches, the Calliopsis tinctoria of the dyers, the Gaura 

 of Lindheimer, and the Tripsacum dactyloides. Asters, Erigerons, 

 Gaillardies, Helianthi (sun-flowers), Solid agos, the Mudbeckia hirta, 

 and the Coreopsis, are found almost as far south as Texas. By the 

 side of these Composite flourish several Desmodiums and Cassias, 

 some graceful Baptisias with blue flowers and light green foliage, 

 the Melanthum Virginicum, the Euphorbia marginata, the Asdepias 

 Cornuti now naturalised in the neighbourhood of Paris the 

 Hibiscus paZusfris and //. moscheutos, gigantic Malvaceae, whose 

 splendidly-beautiful flowers are often three or four inches in diameter. 

 As plants widely spread in the stonier Prairies, we may note the 

 Gauras, different varieties of (Enothera, and especially the Silpliiu'm 

 laciniatum (vulgarly called the Magnetic Plant, or Compass of the 

 Prairies). Its leaves are said to turn their faces uniformly east and 

 west, so that their edges are consequently directed due north and 

 south. The plant is also known as Pilot- weed, Polar-plant,' Rosin- 

 weed, and Turpentine-weed ; the latter name derived from the copious 

 resin exuded by its steins, which grow to a height of three to six 

 feet, as well as by the leaves, which are deeply pinnatified. 



In the small woods which skirt the Prairies is found in abun- 

 dance, twining round the bushes, the Apios tuberosa, a leguminous 

 plant formerly recommended to European cultivation on account of 

 the rounded tubercles which grow upon its subterranean stems. The 

 Arabians collect them in the spring, and carefully dry them to eat for 

 food. The Apios belongs to the family of Umbelliferse, and is conse- 

 quently allied to celery, parsnip, and carrot. 



In Missouri, and as far as the confines of Mississippi, we also fall 

 in with very productive sandy plains alternating with wooded 

 uplands. This country recalls, on the whole, the aspect of that 

 which we have just described, and the plants which thrive therein are 

 almost the same. 



On the hills and woody slopes in the neighbourhood of the Iron 

 Mountain, we likewise meet with sufficiently verdurous prairies. 



