194 FINDING ODD FLOWERS 



I ran to where he stood. He was quite close to 

 the Spleenwort Fern, near where the queer flower 

 had grown, and there surely a little yellow flower 

 was open. I had not seen it before. The stem 

 the flower grew on was fine and tall, and branched 

 like a pitch-fork. It looked like a bright yellow 

 daisy. The petals were shaped like small straps, 

 although there was no round center of tiny tube- 

 like florets. There was only a single flower in 

 bloom, although, from the buds on the stalks, we 

 knew that others were getting ready to open. 



On the stem we counted two leaves, but more 

 curious ones were about it where it touched the 

 ground. They were quite large, with fine hairs 

 around their edges, and the thing that made them 

 look different from any other leaves were the deep 

 purple veins running through them. 



" It's called Snake Plantain, and Hawkweed, as 

 well as Rattlesnake-weed," Tommy said, " and it 

 has a good many relatives, although none of them 

 are half so curious." 



I knew I should always remember those strange 

 leaves, hugging the ground so closely. I slipped 

 my finger under one to see how it looked on the 

 other side, and it was almost covered with black 

 bugs. I put it down quickly. 



" It isn't any more like a snake than other 

 flowers," I said. " Why is it called Rattlesnake- 

 weed?" 



" Just because the country people think the 



