158 



THE INDIANA WEED BOOK. 



121. EUPATORIUM AGERATOIDES L. White Suake-root. White Sanicle. 



(P. N. 3.) 



Erect, glabrous or nearly so, much branched, 1-4 feet high ; leaves 

 thin, opposite, broadly ovate, slender-stalked, pointed, coarsely and sharply 

 toothed, 3-G inches long. Heads numerous in loose clusters, 10-30 

 flowered; involucre bell-shaped, the bracts equal, linear, pointed, in 1 or 

 2 rows ; flowers white. 



Common in dense woods and thickets and along roadsides in 

 shaded places, usually in rich moist soil. July Oct. Supposed by 

 many to be the cause of trembles in sheep, cattle and horses and of 

 milk sickness in humans. "While by most physicians and botanists 

 this poisonous character is denied, Mr. E. L. Moseley has, by 

 numerous experiments, recently proven* that it causes trembles 

 and death when fed to cats, rabbits and lambs. He states that 

 cattle and sheep will not touch the weed when other forage is 

 plentiful, but that when turned into a closely cropped pasture 

 or one covered with snow they eat it and are soon affected with 

 trembles. The milk from cows which have eaten it under such 

 conditions has been known to cause milk sickness and death. While 

 the weed is not aggressive it should be cleared out of woods used 

 for pasture. This can be done by drainage or by successive mow- 

 ings. The root is used in medicines and, when properly prepared, 

 brings 3 to 4 cents per pound. 



122. LEPTILON CAKADENSE L. Horse- 

 weed. Butterweed. Mare's Tail. 

 (A. N. 1.) 



Erect, bristly-hairy, usually much 

 branched, very leafy, 1-8 feet high; 

 lower and basal leaves spoon-shaped, 

 stalked, cut-lobed ; upper linear, entire. 

 Heads small, very numerous, in an 

 open panicle ; receptacle naked ; invol- 

 ucre bell-shaped, its bracts narrow in 2 

 or 3 overlapping rows; flowers dull 

 white; rays numerous but shorter than 

 the pappus and therefore inconspicuous. 

 Achene flattened; pappus a single row 

 of hair-like straw-colored bristles. (Fig. 

 117.) 



Very common in fields, gardens 

 and open waste; places, especially in 

 damp sandy soil. June-Get. Occurs especially in old abandoned 

 or fallow fields and in stubble. The seeds are very numerous, the 



Fig. 117. (After Watson.) 



*0hio Naturalist, VI, 1906, 463-470; 477-483. 



