43 



BLACK -EYED SUSAN; CONE- 

 FLOWER. 



The bright orange and purple 

 heads of these pretty flowers may be 

 seen in many of our fields from the 

 latter part of May until September. 

 The hairy stems, which grow one or 

 two feet in height, are exceedingly 

 tough and difficult to break with the 

 hands. The leaves, too, are hairy and 

 very rough to the touch. This spe- 

 cies is an original native of the west- 

 ern states and is one of the very few 

 plants that have travelled from the 

 west to the east in our country. Each 

 stem is simple and unbranched but 

 several of them often spring from 



the same root, each terminating in a single large showy 

 blossom. 



The conical, dark purple center is composed of long tubu- 

 lar florets that ripen in successive rings about the cone, a 

 fringe of yellow pollen showing which ones are matured. 

 The orange-yellow rays are neutral, with neither stamens 

 nor pistils. They have their use, however, in attracting 

 to the flowers, bees and butterflies to feast upon the nectar 

 and the pollen. 



ROBINS PLANTAIN 



ie of the earliest of the Com- 



posites to bloom, because of which it is sometimes called the 

 Blue Spring Daisy. Most of the leaves are spatulate in 

 shape and form a rosette at the base of the stem; a few 

 other smaller ones clasp the stem alternately, diminishing 

 in size until they reach the small cluster of flowers at the 

 top of the stem. The central disks are dull yellowish and 

 the numerous narrow rays are a pale purplish-blue. Both 

 stem and leaves are very fuzzy. It is a common plant either 

 in dry or moist soil, in fields or in woods and blooms during 

 May and June. The rootstock is perennial, new plants 

 springing up from the same every year, which together with 

 the new ones soon form large colonies. 





