224 LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 
Means of control 
Let the infested meadows be cleansed by fire, burning them over 
in August or at the time of maturing seeds, thus destroying all this 
year’s plants and their progeny while not seriously harming the 
roots of the perennial grasses. If next year some seeds that have 
lain dormant in the soil spring up, see that the plants are either cut 
or pulled before seed development. Or, if too numerous for that, 
repeat the flaming purification. On lands that are not in danger of 
washing and can safely be put under the plow, a cultivated crop 
requiring careful hoe-culture should be grown before reseeding 
heavily with better forage. No annual plant so dangerous to the 
health of grazing animals should be allowed to survive. 
DYER’S GREENWEED 
Genista tinctoria, L. 
‘Other English names: Woad-waxen, Dyer’s 
Broom, Dyer’s Whin, Base Broom, Alleluia. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 
and by woody, creeping rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 
Range: Maine to Massachusetts and eastern 
New York. 
Habitat: Dry uplands. 
Time was when the clothing of a New Eng- 
land household was spun, woven, and dyed at 
home; then the Genista was cultivated as a 
useful and necessary plant. Used by itself, it 
colored woolen cloth yellow; combined with 
Woad (Isatis tinctéria), a blue-dye plant of 
the Mustard Family, it dyed green. But, its 
usefulness gone, it was left uncared for and 
“escaped,” becoming so abundant in some 
localities that dry upland pastures are some- 
times yellow in summer with its bloom. Cattle 
Fra. 160.—Dyer’s will eat it when other forage is scarce, with the 
Greenweed (Genista result that its bitter taste is imparted to 
tinctoria). the dairy products. (Fig. 160.) 
