COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composite. 



A rather large-flowered plant which ig 

 Plantain frequently communistic, tinting the road- 



Erigeron 8 ^ e or field with its delicate lilac. The 



bellidifolius light olive green stem and leaves are very 

 Lilac or soft-hairy, the basal leaves broad at the 



Ma* j'une* tip an(i indistinctl y toothed. The showy 



flowers, 1 inch broad, vary from lilac or 

 magenta to a violet-purple ; the somewhat green-yellow 

 disc is broader than the fine rays are long. Fertilized 

 by bumblebees.and honeybees (the most frequent visitors) 

 and butterflies. 10-22 inches high. Common every- 

 where. 



Common -^ similar but taller plant with light ma- 



Pleabane genta or pale pink flowers and a soft-hairy 



Erigeron (rarely smooth) stem ; 1-2 feet high. Com- 



Philadelphicus mon throughout our range, but less fre- 

 quent than E. bellidifolius, and blooming to August. 



A small plant with short white hairs ; 

 or Pussy-toes * ne three-ribbed basal leaves broad near 

 Antennaria the tip, the stalks nearly as long as the 

 plantaginea leaf. Upper stem leaves lance-shaped. 

 White The j mear sca i es O f the small, 4- inch long 



May-June ., . , 



flower-head are green or tawny at the 



base, and white or purplish at the tip. The outer bracts 

 blunt and the inner ones acute. 4-18 inches high. 

 Mass., south to La., and west. The var. petiolata is 

 lower and slenderer, with ovate, blunt-pointed basal 

 leaves on slender, long stalks. The calyx is more pur- 

 ple-tinged, with the bracts shorter and narrower. A 

 familiar type of southern N. Eng., very common in east- 

 ern Mass, on dry slopes and open woods ; also in dry 

 fields of southern N. H. 



A species with larger flower-heads. The 



Antennaria baga j i eaveg gray so f t-hairy above, and the 



May^June greenish or tawny scales of the calyx have 



rather dry petallike tips. Northern N. 



Eng., south to La., and west. 



500 



