A SECOND OHIO WEED MANUAL. 



268 BIue=curls, Bastard Pennyroyal A Trichostema dichotomum L. 

 This is a light green, low plant, with fine, sticky down, oblong, tapering lea 

 and blue flowers in late summer. It is common in the dry fields of southeastern 

 Ohio where it seems to do little damage as a weed. 



269 \Vood=sage, Germander P Teucrium Canadense L. A very conspic- 

 uous weed in grass lands by roadsides, with its downy stems one to three feet 

 high, egg-shaped, saw-toothed leaves, rounded at the base and conical flower 

 clusters of rose-colored, purple dotted flowers at the summit. It merits destruc- 

 tion by cutting or grubbing. 



POTATO FAMILY, SOLANACE.i:. 



270 Apple=of=Peru P *Physalodes physalodes (L. Britt. This is a 

 Peruvian annual, two to three feet high, with smooth leaves somewhat resem- 

 bling those of jimsonweed. The flowers are pale blue and the fruit similar t" 

 those of the ground-cherry, except that the covering becomes bladder-like and 

 five wing-angled. A suspicious plant, recently introduced; it should be pulled 

 up wherever seen. 



271 Qround=cherries A and P Physalis spp. The various ground-cher- 

 ries, with their egg-shaped leaves and downy or sticky branches, are frequent 

 in waste places and in grass lands. They commonly have greenish or yellow- 

 ish flowers, succeeded by a pulpy, many seeded berry, enclose by a loose husk. 

 The annual may be distinguished from the perennial sorts by the difference in 

 the roots. All of them save the cultivated annual one with yellow, edible berri 5, 

 deserve to be destroyed. The perennial sorts have deep, spreading roots. 



272 Horse=nettle, Sand=brier P Solatium Carolinense L. No list of the 

 vilest and worst weeds of the state would be complete without including the 

 horse-nettle, a southern species much resembling the potato in leaf characters 



but with leaf and stem bearing stout, straw- 

 colored prickles. Fig. SO shows the appearance 

 of this plant when in blossom and also shows 

 the spreading, underground stems by which it 

 gradually extends its growth each year. It is 

 commonly a foot in height, with purplish or 

 white blossoms, followed b\- round, yellow ber- 

 ries about 1-2 inch across. These berries are 

 many seeded and strongly resemble those of the 

 potato. The resemblance of the pi ant to the po- 

 tato in general appearance, together with the 

 prickles on the stems and leaves and the under- 

 ground stems, make identification rather easy. 

 The weed has spread over all counties of 

 the state, and in the south and southeastern 

 areas it ranks with any other weed in noxious 

 character. It is particularly annoying in per- 

 manent pastures where it flourishes in all sorts 

 of soils. The berries are. according to a I 

 county correspondent, commonly produced in 

 abundance, and the sheep feed upon them carrying the seeds to the higher land, 

 thus spreading the pest widely. If choosing between it and the Canada thistle, 

 the wind carried seed of the thistle is the only point to make it worse than horse- 

 nettle; this point is almost offset by the fact just stated. Yet horse-nettle has 

 been permitted to spread over man}* thousands of acres of grass lands and along 

 many miles of roadside. It should certainly be included among the weeds in a 

 state law. 



F: : . ~y). Horse-nettle. 



