Blue-Stemmed Golden-Rod. 



SOLIDAGO C^SIA L. 



When the wayside tangles blaze, 



In the low September sun, 

 When the flowers of summer days 



Droop and wither, one by one. 

 Reaching up through bush and briar, 

 Sumptuous brow and heart of fire. 

 Flaunting high its wind-rocked plume, 

 Brave with wealth of native bloom, — 

 Golden-Rod! 



In the pasture's rude embrace. 



All o'errun with tangled vines, 

 Where the thistle claims its place, 



And the straggling hedge confines, 

 Bearing still its sweet impress 

 Of unfettered loveliness. 

 In the field and by the wall. 

 Binding, crowning, clasping all, — 

 Golden- Rod! 



Elaine Goodale. 



"The eighty or more species of the genus Solidago" says 

 Prof. Goodale, " are nearly all North American. Like their near 

 of kin, the Asters, the Golden-Rod presents so many intermediate 

 and puzzling forms that the species are difficult to identify. The 



