COMPOSITE FAMILY 



for, like all the composites, the rays are on duty until the last 

 stigma is fertilized. Marigolds are plants of strong odor. 



The French Marigold, Tagetes pdtula, also from Mexico, came 

 into England from France and so obtained its misleading name. 

 A small plant bearing a small flower, it forms a neat and compact 

 little bush. The flower-heads are small and the color markings are 

 Variable, ranging from nearly pure-yellow to nearly pure-red. 



Tagetes signhta var. pumila is a dwarf, leafy, bushy form with 

 small bright-yellow five-rayed flower-heads, a favorite for borders. 



COREOPSIS 



Coreopsis lanceolaia. 



Coreopsis, Greek, like a bug; referring to the shape of the akenes. 



A group of several species native to our Western and South-western 

 States; cultivated for their extremely brilliant yellow, or red and yellow 

 flowers. The two most common in gardens are Coreopsis lanceolaia, 

 a perennial, and Coreopsis tinctoria, an annual. Both have been 

 modified and hybridized. Summer. 



Stem. — Growing in tufts, one to two feet high. 



Leaves. — Lanceolate or oblanceolate; sometimes divided, entire, 

 mostly crowded at the base. 



Flower-heads. — Radiate, one and a half to three inches across, on long, 

 slender peduncles; rays yellow, broad; disk-florets yellow. 



Involucre. — ^With two kinds of bracts; the outer narrow and spread- 

 ing; the inner more or less scarious. 



Receptacle. — Slightly convex, chaffy. 



Pappus. — Minute or wanting. 



Akenes. — Orbicular, winged. 



Coreopsis of any species, when at home, is a weed, wherever 

 that home may be. In cultivation the plant retains many of its 

 weed virtues. Establish Coreopsis lanceolaia in the garden, not 

 only will it remain, it will enlarge its boundaries and possess 

 the soil. The chief objection to Coreopsis is the extreme difficulty 

 of keeping the flower-heads from going to seed; this is necessary 



