68 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



Golden Senecio, or The golden senecio, or ragwort, has 

 Sagwort, a delightfully bright color which illu- 



Seneoio aureus. ^^^^^^ ^^^ meadows where the flower 

 happens to grow with an amber light such as we 

 may see in some of the paintings of the old mas- 

 ter, Claude Lorraine. There 

 is something very beautiful 

 in this mixture of golden yel- 

 low with the misty -toned 

 green of the meadows in 

 July when the senecio is in 

 full bloom. The flower re- 

 sembles an aster in form, but 

 the leaves have an individu- 

 ality of their own ; they are 

 also variable in type ; per- 

 haps the commonest leaf is 

 heart-shaped. The plant gets 

 its name from its hairy ap- 

 pearance (certain of the species have a cottony look), 

 or from the downy effect of the flower head when 

 it has passed the period of bloom. Thoreau says 

 in his journal, July 2d : "I see the downy heads of 

 the senecio gone to seed, thistlelike, but small. The 

 Gnaphaliuma" (everlasting flowers) "and this are 

 among the earliest to present this appearance." The 

 word senecio is derived from senex, an old man, and 



Golden Senecio. 



