COMPOSITE FAMILY 



ering plants, it is the only one in this vast order in our temperate climate 

 that attains the dignity of treehood. In the l'ines it grows from ten to fif- 

 teen feet in height, and in autumn is a very marked feature of the landscape. 

 The abundant pure white pappus with which the plant is enshrouded at a 

 little distance looks like a mass of white flowers strangely out of season in 

 their rich setting of autumnal foliage. 



— Mary Treat, in Garden and Forest. 

 Vineland, N. J., November 17, 1S88. 



Shrubs which are in full bloom during the first weeks 

 of October are not plentiful in our climate ; the mus- 

 ter roll includes the althaeas, the hardy hydrangeas, 

 the witch hazel and the groundsel-tree, together with 

 sundry late blooming roses. The Groundsel-tree is 

 valued for its fluffy fruit rather than for its inconspicu- 

 ous flowers ; but any bloom at this period is welcome. 

 It belongs to the Composite, the family of the asters, 

 the daisies, the goldenrods and the sunflowers. The 

 individual blossoms are minute and are gathered to- 

 gether in small heads without ray flowers, conse- 

 quently are inconspicuous. 



The plant is dioecious, that is, the pistillate and the 

 staminate flowers are borne on different bushes. This 

 is a kind of division of labor in the vegetable world; 

 many trees are of this nature, notably the willows. 

 The particular and gratifying characteristic of the 

 Groundsel-tree is that it is possible to plant two bushes 

 side by side, watch them flourish throughout the sum- 

 mer and when blooming time comes in September, see 

 one put forth its clusters of tiny pistillate flowers which 

 look like little green buds with a pale top ; and the 

 other put forth its staminate clusters which differ from 

 the first only that the tops are a little more conspicu- 

 ous. In the course of time, one green bush bears a 



312 



