White and Greenish 



Preferred Habitat— V\&\ds, waste land, roadsides. 



Flowerir^ Season — May — ^November. 



Distribution — Nova Scotia to Virginia, westward to Missouri. 



At a glance one knows this flower to be akin to Robin's plan- 

 tain (p. 75), the asters and daisy. A smaller, more delicate spe- 

 cies, with mostly entire leaves and appressed hairs (£. ramosus) 

 — E. strigosum of Gray — has a similar range and season of bloom. 

 Both soon grow hoary-headed after they have been fertilized by 

 countless insects crawling over them {Erigeron = early old). That 

 either of these plants, or the pinkish, small-flowered, strong- 

 scented Salt-marsh Fleabane {Pluchea catnphorata), drive away 

 fleas, is believed only by those who have not used them dried, 

 reduced to powder, and sprinkled in kennels, from which, how- 

 ever, they have been known to drive away dogs. 



Groundsel-bush or -tree; Pencil-tree 



(Baccharis halimifolia) Thistle family 



Flower-heads — White or yellowish tubular florets, i to 5 in pedun- 

 cled clusters. Staminate and pistillate clusters on different 

 shrubs ; the former almost round at first, the latter con- 

 spicuous only when seeding ; then their pappus is white, and 

 about Yi in. long. Stem : A smooth, branching shrub, 3 to 

 10 ft. high. Leaves: Thick, lower ones ovate to wedge- 

 shaped, coarsely aiigular-toothed ; upper ones smaller, few- 

 toothed or entire. 



preferred Habitat—SaiX. marshes, tide-water streams, often far from 

 the coast. 



Flowering Season — September — ^November. 



Distribution — The Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to Texas. 



When the little bright white, silky cockades, clustered at the 

 ends of the branches, appear on a female groundsel-bush in autumn, 

 our eyes are attracted to the shrub for the first time. But had not 

 small pollen carriers discovered it weeks before, the scaly, glutin- 

 ous cups would hold no charming, plumed seeds ready to ride on 

 autumn gales. Self-fertilization has been guarded against by pre- 

 carious means, but the safest of all devices — separation of the 

 sexes on distinct plants. These are absolutely dependent, of 

 course, on insect messengers — not visitors merely. Bees, which 

 always show less inclination to dally from one species of flower 

 to another than any other guests, and more intelligent directness 

 of purpose when out for business, are the groundsel-bush's truest 

 benefactors. This is the only shrub among the multitudinous 

 composite clan that most of us are ever likely to see. 



265 



