Yellow and Orang^e 



After the marsh marigolds have withdrawn their brightnesi 

 from low-lying meadows, blossoms of yellow avens twinkle in 

 their stead. In autumn the jointed, barbed styles, protruding 

 from the seed clusters, steal a ride by the same successful method 

 of travel to new colonizing ground adopted by burdocks, goose- 

 grass, tick-trefoils (page 23), agrimony, and a score of other 

 "tramps of the vegetable world." 



Tall or Hairy Agrimony 



{Agrimonia hirsuta) Rose family 

 {A. Eupatoria of Gray) 



Flowers — Yellow, small, 5-parted, in narrow, spike-like racemes. 

 Stem : Usually 3 to 4 ft. tall, sometimes less or more clothed, 

 with long, soft hairs. Leaves: Large, thin, bright green, 

 compounded of (mostly) 7 principal oblong, coarsely saw- 

 edged leaflets, with pairs of tiny leaflets between. 



Preferred Habitat— V^loois, thickets, edges of fields. 



Flowering Season — June — August. 



Distribution — ^North Carolina, westward to California, and far 

 north. 



Quite a different species, not found in this country, is the 

 common European Agrimony — A. Eupatoria of Linnaeus — which 

 figures so prominently in the writings of mediaeval herbalists as a 

 cure-all. Slender spires of green fruit below and yellow flowers 

 above curve and bend at the borders of woodlands here appar- 

 ently for no better reason than to enjoy life. Very few insects 

 visit them, owing to the absence of nectar — certainly not the 

 highly specialized and intelligent " Humble-Bee," to whom Emer- 

 son addressed the lines : 



"Succory to match the sky, 

 Columbine with horn of honey, 

 Scented fern and agrimony, 

 Clover, catch-fly, adder's-tongue. 

 And brier-roses, dwelt among." 



It is true the bumblebee may dwell among almost any 

 flowers, but he has decided preferences for such showy ones as 

 have adapted themselves to please his love of certain colors (not 

 yellow), or have secreted nectar so deeply hidden from the mqb 

 that his long tongue may find plenty preserved when he calls. 

 Occasional visitors alighting on the agrimony for pollen may dis- 

 tribute some, but the little blossoms chiefly fertilize themselves. 

 When crushed they give forth a faint, pleasant odor. Pretty, 

 nodding seed urns, encircled with a rim of hooks, grapple the 



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