WEEDS 239 



and the styles of the pistil project from and overhang the 

 tube. This homely weed will repay examination under the 

 magnifying-glass. The althaea and hollyhock are members 

 of this family. 



The common mallow is a dooryard weed. 4 to 12 inches long. 



19 



Sida spiribsa. — Family, Mallow. Color, yellow. Leaves, 

 lance-shaped or oblong, toothed, petioled. 



Calyx, s-cleft. Petals and styles, k,. Fruit of 5 carpels 

 united, each becoming 2-beaked at the top. i to 2 feet high. 



A low, branched plant, getting its name from a spine-like pro- 

 tuberance found at the base of some of the leaves. An importa- 

 tion from the tropics, this plant is now found growing in waste 

 fields of southern New York, and to the westward and southward. 



20. Yellow Melilot. Sweet Clover 



Melilhtus officinalis. — Family, Pulse. Color, yellow. Lea%>es, 

 of 3 toothed leaflets. Time, July, August. 



A plant which, when dried, is fragrant. The flowers are 

 loosely borne on a long, raceme-like, drooping spike. It grows 

 tall, from 2 to 4 feet. 



21. White Melilot 



M. dlba is much like the yellow, except in color. It like- 

 wise has a fragrance, when dried, like new-mown hay. 



Both grow in waste or cultivated grounds. At night 2 of the 

 3 leaflets fold together; the other, says Mr. Gibson, "is left out 

 in the cold." 



22. Black Medick 



Medicago lupufina is a yellow-flowered clover, with flowers 

 in short spikes ami with kidney-shaped pods. 



