48. 



late yellowish prickles which are usually numerous ; leaves oblong 

 or sometimes ovate, obtusely sinuate, toothed or lobed or deeply 

 cut, two or four inches long. The flowers are borne in what are 

 called racemes, which later become one-sided; the outer part of 

 the flowers, the calyx, consist of slender lobes, the corolla is light 

 blue or white, an inch or less in diameter. The flowers are fol- 

 lowed by the yellow globose berries, half to three quarters of an 

 inch in diameter. The seeds are yellowish, a little less than one- 

 twelfth of an inch long, minutely roughened. The flowers re- 

 semble those of the common potato, and are blue or white, an 

 inch or less in diameter. The yellow berries also resemble those 

 of the potato. The spiny character of the leaves and the further 

 resemblance of the flower to the potato should render it easy of 

 detection. 



PLANTAIN FAMILY ( Plant aginaceac. ) 



Of the plantains the most common weed not described is the 

 common dooryard plantain of which there are two kinds, Plan- 

 logo major and P. Kugelii; the bracted plantain is becoming a 

 troublesome weed in the southern part of the state, especially in 

 clover fields. This plant is something like the common plantain 

 but the leaves are narower and the heads with large bracts. 

 BUCKHORN (Plaoitago lanceolata L.) 



A perennial or biennial, pubescent, with short erect root-stocks ; 

 leaves narrowly oblong lanceolata ,somewhat shorter than the 

 scape, three to five ribbed ; scapes slender with spikes dense, at 

 first capitate, later becoming cylindrical ; bracts and sepals scari- 

 ious, brownish; calyx of four persistent sepals and glabrous co- 

 rolla. Two small smooth brownish seeds found in each vessel. 

 COMPOSITE FAMILY ( Compositae. ) 



The Composite or Suriflower Family is a large family of plants 

 containing some of the most troublesome of our weeds. The fam- 

 ily gets its name from the common sunflower which is w r eedy in 

 the western part of the state, but in addition there are a large 

 number of other weeds of this family like the dandelion, May 

 weed, sneeze weed, marsh elder, troublesome in western Iowa, 

 the leaf looks something like the sunflower, but the flowers are 

 like the common ragweed, tansy, and so on. Of the cultivated 

 plants attention may be called to the lettuce and chicory. Sneeze 

 weed with yellow flowers growing in low ground is poisonous. 

 Aster, golden rod, horse weed and dandelion belong to this fam- 

 ily. 



BULL THISTLE (Cirsium lanceolatum Willd.} 



A branching biennial, three to four feet high, tomentose, be- 

 coming dark green and villous or hirsute with age, branchlets 

 bearing large heads ; leaves lanceolate, decurrent on the stem with 



