CROWFOOT FAMILY 35 
landscape adorned with the brilliant blossoms of 
the Marsh Marigold. In the open fields the trail- 
ing water courses are marked by the masses of 
yellow flowers, while in the woods the marshy 
places show great vistas of them. In sunlight or 
in shadow the plant is equally beautiful, its golden 
bloom mingling with its yellow-green foliage and 
the lush vegetation of 
its water-loving 
neighbors. It gener- 
ally grows in standing 
or in slowly running 
water, the large flow- 
ers being held above 
the surface by the hol- 
low, furrowed stems, 
which also bear the 
broad, smooth, round 
or kidney-shaped 
leaves. 
The blossoms ex- 
pand an inch and a half and consist of from five 
to nine petaloid sepals with numerous stamens 
and five to ten pistils. Both stamens and pistils 
mature about the same time, but the outer rows 
of the former shed their pollen before the inner 
rows. The flowers are freely visited by bright- 
colored flies, called Syrphus flies, that are abun- 
dant in swampy places, these flies being attracted 
MARSH MARIGOLD 
