132 



THE INDIAN V WEED BOOK. 



Frequent in dense tufts or patches along banks, roadsides and 

 railways where it has escaped from cultivation. June-Sept. In 



the country it is a well known 

 plant which a half century ago was 

 grown for ornament much more 

 commonly than now. In many of 

 the eastern States it has spread 

 over upland meadows and pastures 

 until H is accounted one of the 

 worst of weeds, and it is very likely 



^\ s$^f [k ^ *' ^ ^ e same " 1 Indiana. It has 

 \ ' -TtT a disagreeable odor and spreads 



both by underground stems and 

 seeds, taking almost exclusive pos- 

 session of the soil. Although the 

 flowers are somewhat showy it is a 

 weed which should be destroyed 

 before it is too late to prevent ex- 

 tensive spreading. Remedies : con- 

 tinuous cultivation and heavy crop- 

 Fig. 94. Showing flower and seed. (After Vasey.) ping; cutting Several tilHCS Cadi 



season and then salting or using coal-oil or sulphuric acid on the 

 rootstocks. 



OS. SCROPHULARIA MARYLANIHCA L. IMleWOl't. 



Stem slender, 4-angled, erect, widely 

 branched, 3-10 feet high ; leaves ovate, 

 long-stalked, pointed, sharply toothed, 

 3-12 inches long. Flowers small, nu- 

 merous, in loose, compound cymes ; 

 corolla irregular or somewhat 2-lipped, 

 dull green without, brownish-purple 

 within, the upper lip erect, the lower 

 spreading ; perfect stamens 4. the fifth 

 represented by a deep purple scale on 

 the roof of the corolla tube. Capsule 

 egg-shaped, many-seeded. Seeds dull 

 brown. 1/32 Irch long, grooved and 

 roughened. (Fig. 05.) 



Figwort. (P. N. 3.) 



Fig. 95. Single flower above; fruit below. 

 (After Britton and Brown.) 



Frequent along fence-rows, bor- 

 ders of thickets and damp woods in 

 rich moist soil. June-Get. It varies 

 greatly in height and date of blooming. The name Scrophularia 

 was given this or a closely allied plant because it is used as a remedy 

 for scrofula and other skin diseases, also as an anodyne to allay 



