Compo0ite JTamil^. 



Coltsfoot. Tussilago Farfara. 



Found in moist meadows, on banks, and brooksides in May. 



The flowers and leaves grow from the root, about 4 or 6 inches high. 



The leaf appears some time after the flowers ; it is large, rounding, 

 with a heart-shaped base, the margin slightly broken by small rounded 

 points, and with strong ribs radiating from the base ; it is exceptionally 

 fine in texture, and the upper side is possessed of a silky smoothness, 

 the lower side being soft woolly (the new leaves are very woolly). They 

 grow from the root on stout, half-round stems, that are dull purplish- 

 red in color, and often covered with a loose white wool • the leaves are 

 a fine cool green, silvery beneath. 



The small flowers are grouped in dandelion-like heads, with many 

 fine fringy I'ays ; all colored alike a bright yellow. The head is held 

 in a deep, leafy cup that is green strongly tinged with reddish-brown ; 

 it grows on a stout, grooved, roughish stem, which bears several, small, 

 brownish scales ; it rises from the ground before the leaves. 



The Coltsfoot, introduced from England, has become thoroughly 

 naturalized here. Its blossoms bear a certain superficial resemblance to 

 the Dandelion, though really different in habits of growth. The leaves 

 are truly decorative, growing thickly in large spaces, and forming a 

 mosaic of green tiles close down to the brook's edge. 



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