. COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 467 
Stems rough, stout, woody, three to eight feet in height, simple or 
with a few branches at the top. Leaves three to six inches long, 
lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, thick and leathery, rigid, rough 
on both sides, with sharp but shallow teeth or sometimes entire, and 
are mostly sessile, only the lowermost ones narrowing to a short, 
rigid petiole. Heads few, usually solitary at the ends of stem and 
branches, two to four inches broad, with twenty to twenty-five 
light yellow sterile rays; the fertile disk-florets are purplish 
brown. Achenes oblong, hairy, crowned with two broad scales 
and often with several small, sharp-pointed awns. 
Means of control 
Most readily suppressed by cultivation of the soil, which destroys 
the perennial roots; or by frequent and close cutting during the 
growing season, which starves the roots and prevents seed develop- 
ment. 
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE 
Helidnthus tuberdsus, L. 
Other English names: Tuberous Sunflower, Earth Apple, Girasole, 
Canada Potato. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by short, tuber- 
bearing rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: August to September. 
Seed-time: September to October. 
Range: New Brunswick and Ontario to the Northwest Territory, 
southward to Georgia and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Hummocks in swamps; meadows, fields, roadsides, and 
waste places. 
Long before the white men came to America the Indians were 
rudely cultivating this native plant for its edible tubers, which are 
fleshy and sweet and afford very nourishing food for man and 
beast. And so persistent is it when once established that some of 
the aboriginal patches are said to be still productive. The plant 
will grow almost anywhere, but it thrives best and the tubers grow 
largest in moist and mellow soil. Stems stout, erect, rough-hairy, 
four to twelve feet tall and branching at the top. Leaves four to 
eight inches long, ovate, pointed, thick, firm, three-nerved, saw- 
toothed, rough on the upper side, finely hairy beneath, tapering 
