HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



lobed, acute, sessile, the upper clasping the stem, hairy along the 

 midrib. 



A rank-scented, poisonous plant. One of its common 

 names, insane-root, would indicate that eating of its root 

 might produce insanity. In waste places, sandy soil, from 

 Nova Scotia to New York and westward to Michigan. 



Common Mullein 



Verbascum Thapsus. — Family, Figwort. Color, yellow. Corolla 

 and calyx, 5-parted. Flowers, in terminal, thick spikes, much 

 crowded. Leaves, thick, velvety, long, acute, alternate. 



A well-known, tall, excessively woolly plant with heavy 

 spikes of large blossoms. The leaves run down the main 

 stem, producing wings. The flowers last only a day. In 

 dry fields or waste places; a weed. I have seen this plant 

 cherished in pots in houses in Germany, under the name 

 of the "American velvet plant," and have been called upon 

 to admire the extremely soft, beautiful leaves. 



Moth Mullein 



V* Btattaria (see in chapter on White Flowers, p. 124). — Color, 

 white or yellow. 



V, Lychriitis. — Color, yellow or white. (See p. 124.) 



Butter-and-eggs. Ramstead. Toadflax 



Linaria 'vulgaris* — Family, Figwort. Color, yellow and orange. 

 Corolla, 2 -lipped with the throat closed by a projection of the lip 

 called a palate. The lower lip has a long, slender spur. Flowers, 

 in racemes, growing closely together. They have a fragrance 

 suggestive of a dairy. Leaves, long, narrow, entire, sessile, nu- 

 merous. Stem, sometimes thick and fleshy. Summer. 



A weed in many grounds, growing in dry soil in fields and 

 along roadsides. 



Golden Hedge Hyssop 



Gratiola aurea. — Family, Figwort. Color, deep yellow. Calyx- 

 divisions toothed, leaf-like. Corolla of the snapdragon type, the 

 upper lip 2 -cleft, the under 3 -lobed. There are 2 perfect and 2 

 sterile stamens. 2 bracts under the calyx. Leaves, ovate or ob- 

 long, broad at base where they clasp the branches, serrate at 

 apex. Flowers, in the leaf-axils of the smooth, delicate, weak 

 branches which grow upright from creeping stems, 6 to 18 inches 

 long. June to September. 



A bright, pretty plant, growing in mats or tufts on the 



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