198 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



four points of the compass in as many acrobatic 

 leaps. 



We now come to tlie tallest member of the Com- 

 posite family, the ragweed {Ambrosia trifida), which 

 grows from four to twelve and occa- 

 ^ sionally eighteen feet high. This ex- 

 traordinary plant is commonly found 

 in waste places. Its tall, straight 

 stem with large, deeply three-lobed 

 leaves and terminal stalks of green- 

 ish flowers is one of the most 

 striking things of the highway bor- 

 der. In the fall, if a dried dead 

 stalk is broken, we will find it 

 contains an unsubstantial white 

 pith with a sheen like frostwork. 

 The tall and slender but stout-stemmed 

 ragweed when growing in damp, rich 

 soil, often shoots beyond the twelve- 

 foot mark. I have found one speci- 

 men which measured over thirteen feet, 

 and William Hamilton Gibson records 

 one that measured eighteen feet four 

 inches. 



Black-eyed Susan {Rudbekia hirtd) 

 is the next flower which engages our 

 attention ; its deep golden, orange-yel- 



