USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



leaves and showy panicles of fragrant, white, pea- 

 like blossoms, pendent in June from the branch ends. 

 It, too, has yellow wood, as the common name im- 

 plies, and from it a clear saffron dye may be had. 

 Better known is the Quercitron or Dyer's Oak 

 (Bartram's Quercus tinctoria), which has played a 

 part in international commerce. The inner bark, 

 which is orange-colored, yields a fine yellow dye, and 

 was once an important article of export to Europe, 

 where it was employed in the printing of calicos. 

 The tree is indigenous in poor soil throughout a large 

 part of the eastern United States, and by some bot- 

 anists is regarded as but a variety of the Scarlet Oak 

 {Quercus coccinea, Wang.), whose foliage is a fiery 

 contributor to the autumn coloring of our forests. 



Nature's fondness for yellow is manifested in her 

 gift of many dyes of this cheerful color, utilized by 

 her red children. The common Wild Sunflower 

 [Helianthus annuus, L.) and the flower heads of the 

 rank-smelling Rabbit-brush {Chrysothamnus nause- 

 osus [Pursh.J Britt.) — this latter one the commonest 

 shrubs of the Far Western plains and deserts, with 

 rayless flat-topped clusters of yellow flowers and 

 with linear leaves — ^have long yielded a yellow stain 

 to the Indians, who transmute the gold of the blos- 

 soms into liquidity by the process of boiling. Aii- 



223 



