WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA 65 



in waste places about the Bay and along railroads. Near towns in the interior 

 valley. Gathered in late fall for home decoration and sometimes dyed various 

 colors and sold by the florists. Introduced. 



725. Common Teasel Dipsacus sylvestris With straight spines to the 



fruits. Introduced. Bay 

 region. 



SUNFLOWER FAMILY COMPOSITAE 



A very large family of plants abundantly represented in the west. In Cali- 

 fornia there are at least 125 genera with more than 500 species. It contains few 

 plants that are cultivated on a large scale as farm crops. 



Among the vegetables the most important is the lettuce, followed by the Globe 

 or Thistle Artichoke, the Salsify or Vegetable Oyster, and the Jerusalem Artichoke 

 for its tubers. 



The Sunflower is grown for its seed, which is used for poultry, birds and for 

 oil. A few are medicinal as the wormwoods, chamomile, dandelion, Gum plant, 

 Pine-apple weed, Tansy, Burdock, Yarrow, Blessed Thistle, Thoroughwort or Bone- 

 set, Horse weed or Fleabane, Pyrethrum the well known vermifuge, Chicory for 

 use with coffee, Saffron for dyeing, and others. 



In hard}', easily grown ornamental plants for the garden the family presents 

 an almost endless variety. Among the well known kinds are Sunflowers, Shasta 

 daisies, Michaelmas daisies, Asters, Golden rod, Daisies, Dahlias, Zinnias, Marigolds, 

 Chrysanthemums, Senecio, Everlastings, Coreopsis, Calendula. 



It is safe to say that more of our weeds belong to this family than to any 

 other. Most of them are introduced and number about forty different kinds. 

 The following arc well known, Napa Thistle, Star Thistle, Tarweeds, Canada 

 Thistle, Milk Thistle, May weed, Dog fennel, Pitch forks, Death weed, Wild let- 

 tuce, Coast dandelion, Bristly ox-tongue, Groundsel, Sow-thistle, Cocklebur and 

 lawn dandelion. 



The family comprises annuals and perennials, many of them shrubby. The flower 

 stalk is enlarged at the end in many different ways so as to form a flat, convex or 

 concave receptacle on which few or many flowers are closely placed, appearing as a 

 head. This is usually surrounded by a series of bracts showing many different 

 characteristics as to size and shape and on which much of the classification of the 

 family is based. The flowers may be of two kinds in the same head or one kind 

 only may be present. One kind of corolla is spoken of as tubular as they are in 

 the form of a tube which may be variously lobed or toothed on the upper end of 

 the tube. The other is called ligulate, meaning strap or tongue-shaped. As the 

 corolla fades the calyx unites with the ovary and becomes prominent, forming at the 

 apex an achene, the so-called seed, a structure called the pappus, which consists of 

 scales, hairs or awns varying in number from a few to many, and presenting almost 

 every degree of texture from very fine, soft and downy to broad and stiff. In 

 some the pappus is reduced to a mere ring or absent altogether. Sometimes there 

 are also bracts or scales on the receptacle interspersed between the flowers. When 

 the receptacle has only flowers and no scales within the involucre, it is called naked, 

 but when scales are present on the receptacle among the flowers, it is called chaffy. 



The necessity of procuring some of the specimens at least in the advanced 

 stage of flowering is emphasized as the pappus is a very important character in the 

 determination of the plants belonging to this family. 



Yellow is perhaps the most frequent color of the flowers, but all sorts of 

 colors are represented. 



The family as represented is divided into twelve tribes. Some authors sepa- 

 rate these tribes and place them in families by themselves which has the disad- 

 vantage in that if families are placed alphabetically in a herbarium they may be 

 widely separated from their nearest relatives. 



We will now mention as many of the species of the genera occurring in tht 

 State as time and space will permit. 



