A SECOND OHIO WEED MANUAL. 367 



stems are objectionable in meadows and the plant appears to be useless as 

 forage. The characterization as a worst weed is well shown by a study of its 

 habits in the hilly counties. 



Seeds grayish, oblong", with roundish ends, 1-32 inch long, hair soft and 

 weak, in a small ring, (Fig. 58 a and b). Carried freely by the wind. It is 

 hopeless to undertake to eradicate hairy aster from the regions well suited to it. 

 Like the goldenrod just mentioned, it is more or less indicative of sterile soil. 

 Its habit shows that we may hope to subdue it by the husbandry practiced and 

 by culitvation and fertilizing, thus in the end crowding it out with clover and 

 grasses. Sheep will keep it down quite satisfactorily and are the usual solution 

 of the problem in pastures. 



345 Smooth Aster (P) Aster Icevis L. This is a low-growing, smooth 

 aster, with rather dark green leaves and sky-blue rays. It is common in dry 

 situations and like the last more or less symptomatic. 



346 Whitetop, Whiteweed, Daisy =fleabane (A) Erlgeion annuus Pers. 

 Is a common weed, 3 to 5 feet high, in meadows and other grass lands. It has 

 a hairy stem and egg-shaped, coarsely and sharply toothed leaves. 1 he rays 

 are white, the disk yellow with the general appearance of a "daisy." The 

 farmer knows its character but too well. Its appearance in meadows seems to 

 be intermittent. This has already been mentioned on an earlier page. During 

 1395 and '96 there was very little w T hitetop in the clover fields here or elsewhere, 

 b..t in 1897 it was very abundant. The explanation lies In the germination of the, 

 buried seeds during the favorable rainy season of 1896, hence we may expect it 

 again in 1898. The small plants might have been seen in the fall of 1896, with 

 their dark green, coarsely toothed leaves, waiting only until spring should come, 

 to send up their stems and produce flowers and seed. It will thus be seen that 

 whitetop is a winter annual, and that we may expect crops of it so long as we 

 produce crops of seed. This weed has become naturalized in Europe. 



Seeds very small, light colored, with short tufts of tawny hairs (pappus). 

 It certainly should be possible to remove these seeds wholly from grasses and 

 clover by thorough cleaning, although this is by no means always accomplished. 



Eradication of the whitetop has been outlined above. It must depend upon 

 seed destruction. When the seeds are harvested with the ha} r and again scattered 

 with the manure we can not expect to be rid of it. Where clover fields are 

 badly infested this may be known by fall examination, and the ground again 

 plowed for wheat, turning under the weeds. 



347 Common Fleabane (P) Erigeron Philadelphicus L. Is like the preced- 

 ing but growing in moist land only, and having rose-purple or flesh-colored 

 rays. It is disposed of by drainage an cultivation. 



348 Horseweed (A) Leptilon Canadense (L. ) Britt. Horseweed is a tall, 

 hairy plant, 1 to 5 feet high, with very narrow leaves scattered along the stem. 

 It has dull flowers followed by an abundance of seed resembling that of white- 

 top. The leafy character has led to the local name of "n. are's tail." This 

 conspicuous weed may be killed, in uncultivated fields, by pulling it up, since 

 the stem is always strong and the root not large. 



349, 350 Plantain=everlasting ( P ) Antennaria plantaginifolia (L».) Rich- 

 ards, and A. neglecta Greene. This everlasting is a low plant, 4 to 12 inches 

 high, with silky-woolly, plantain-like, whitish leaves in rather compact rosettes. 

 It spreads by offsets and runners, thus extending rapidly under favorable 

 conditions. It has a few globular heads of cream} 7 flowers on upright stems a 

 few inches in length. Seeds are produced in great abundance, though perhaps 

 counting for much less than the runners in spreading the plant. This weed is 

 found in dry, sterile soil and is apparently much more abundant in those of 

 hard clay, being a conspicuous invader of these soils in the northeastern counties. 



