\\ BEDS OF THE VMARANTH FAMILY 



73 



"never fading" and w;:s given these flowers by the Greeks on ac- 

 count of the dry unwithering nature of the showy bracts. In 

 Europe they are regarded as emblems of immortality, a quality se1 



forth by Milton in the lines wherein lie speaks of the angels as- 

 si mbled before the Deity : 



"To The ground, 



With solemn adoration, down They easT 



Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold. 



Immortal amaranth, a flower which once 



In Paradise, fast by the Tree of lite. 



Began To bloom." 



30. Avu lothus betboflexus L. Rough Pigweed. (A. I. 1.) 



STem sTonT. branched, light green, ereeT or ascending, 1-8 feet high 

 from a pink tap-root; lower leaves ovate, long-stemmed, the upper lanceo- 

 late, pointed. Flowers green in dense sessile. Terminal or axillary spikes 

 which are ot'Ten A inch Thick : bracts awl-shaped. Twice as long as The .*» 

 oblong, spine-tipped sepals. Fruit or nTiicle Thin. slijrhTly shorTer than 

 the sepais, the Top falling away as a lid. Seeds very small, round, lens- 

 shaped, dark brown, smooth and shininjr. 



Abundant throughout the State in gardens, waste places and 

 cultivated fields. July-Oct. Occurring with the rough pigwee 1 



in gardens, and perhaps more com- 

 mon, is the slender pigweed or red- 

 root (A. hybridus L.. Fig 1-0.) It is 

 also known as careless weed and dif- 

 fers in having the stem more slender, 

 often purplish, and springing from 

 a spindle-shaped purplish root, the 

 leaves smaller, bright green, wavy 

 margined and long stalked, and the 

 spikes much more slender, not over 

 J inch thick, somewhat spreading or 

 drooping. Both species arc often at- 

 tacked by a white mold that also at- 

 tacks beets. The seeds of both ripen 

 in early autumn, occur with those of 

 grain and grass, and arc blown far 

 and wide over the snow Remedies: 

 shallow cultivation ; thorough removal 

 before seeding of tin- weeds in corn 

 and potato fields and gardens; burn- 

 ing oi- pulling the seed-bearing plants from waste places, and 

 from fields before fall plowing. 



fig. 40. ! and ;. Mowers: J. utricle closed; 

 ■5, same with lid off. (After Vaa 



