COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMIL Y) 459 
softly hairy, and bearing several small, sharp prickles. These 
burs are often distributed in the wool of sheep, and the weed 
is a most vexatious one to owners of flocks. (Fig. 320.) 
Means of control 
Like all weeds that keep a reserve supply of food in underground 
storage, these are very hard to kill. They must be cut close to the 
ground in early summer, while in their first bloom, and again in 
September, in order to make certain that no seed shall be matured. 
If persistently deprived of the sustenance supplied by leaf-growth 
the rootstocks must finally be starved to death. Large areas are 
best subdued by deep plowing and exposure of rootstocks in hot 
weather as recommended for Perennial Ragweed. 
WOOLLY FRANSERIA 
Franséria tomentosa, Gray 
(Gaertnéria tomentosa, Kuntze) 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. 
Range: Montana, southward to Colorado and Kansas. 
Habitat: Moist, rich soil; cultivated ground, meadows, pastures, 
and waste places. 
Similar to the preceding plant, the two often growing in company. 
Tt is larger, the stems usually one to three feet tall, erect, branching 
from the base, covered with fine, white-woolly hair. Leaves softly 
woolly on both sides or silky and ashy above, pinnately three- to 
seven-lobed, with segments lance-shaped, usually toothed, the 
middle, or terminal, lobe much the largest. Sterile racemes usually 
solitary, two to four inches long, the heads crowded and a little 
larger than F. discolor. Fertile involucres usually solitary in the 
upper axils, about a quarter-inch long, softly woolly, and set with 
very sharp spines, which are finely hooked at the very tip so that 
sheep and other animals catch them at a touch and they are 
even more readily and extensively distributed than the preceding 
species. 
Means of control the same as for the preceding plant. 
