Yellow and Orange 



False Sunflower; Ox-eye 



{Heliopsis helianthoides) Thistle family 

 (//. laevis of Gray) 



Flower-heads — Entirely golden yellow, daisy-like, 1% to 2}i in. 

 across, the perfect disk florets inserted on a convex, chaflFy 

 receptacle, and surrounded by pistillate, fertile, 3-toothed 

 ray florets ; usually numerous solitary heads borne on long 

 peduncles from axils of upper leaves. Stem: 3 to 5 ft. tall, 

 branching above, smooth. Leaves: Opposite, ovate, and 

 tapering to a sharp point, sharply and evenly toothed. 



Preferred Habitat — Open places ; rich, low ground ; beside streams. 



Flowering Season — ^July — September. 



Distribution — Southern Canada to Florida, westward to Illinois and 

 Kentucky. 



Along the streams the numerous flower-heads of this gor- 

 geous sunbearer shine out from afar, brightening a long, meander- 

 mg course across the low-lying meadows. Like heralds of good 

 things to come, they march a little in advance of the brilliant pa- 

 geant of wild flowers that sweeps across the country from mid- 

 summer till killing frost. Most people mistake them for true, 

 yellow-disked sunflowers, whose ray florets are neutral, not fer- 

 tile as these long persistent ones are. But no one should confuse 

 them with the dark cone-centred ox-eye daisy. Small bees, 

 wasps, hornets, flies, little butterflies, beetles, and lower insects 

 come to feast on the nectar and pollen within the minute tubu- 

 lar disk florets. The bright fulvous and black pearl crescent 

 butterfly, with a trifle over an inch wing expanse ; the common hair 

 streak ; the even commoner little white butterfly ; and the tiny 

 black sooty wing, among others, appear to find generous enter- 

 tainment here. The last named little fellow, when in the cater- 

 pillar stage, formed a cradle for himself by folding together a leaf 

 of the ubiquitous green-flowered pigweed or lamb's quarters 

 {Chenopodium album) and stitching the edges together with a few 

 silken threads. Here it slept by day, emerging only at night to 

 feed. Usually one has not long to wait before discovering the 

 white-dotted sooty wing among the midsummer composites. 



Biack-eyed Susan; Yellow or Ox-eye Daisy; 

 Nigger-head; Golden Jerusalem; Purple 

 Cone-flower 



{Rudbeckia hirta) Thistle family 



Flower-heads — From 10 to 20 orange-yellow neutral rays around 

 9. conical, dark purplish-brown disk of florets containing both 



354 



