190 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLAJfTS. 



Stems 2-4 feet high, somewhat branched above, often growing in clusters. Leaves 2 or 3 

 -6 or 8 inches long, interruptedly pseudo-pinnate — the segments pinnatiful, unequally 

 iucised-serrate. Ifeacis depressed-hemispherical ; inmlua-e smoothish, — the outer scak-s 

 lanceolate, acuminate — the inner ones oblong, obtuse ] fiords deep yellow, numerous and 

 densely crowded, the marginal ones trifid, obsoletely radiate. Receptacle nearly flat. 



Gardens, fence-rows, way-sides, &c.: introduced. Native of Europe. 17. July - Aug. 

 Fr. September. 



Obs. This was originally introduced as a garden-plant, and generally 

 cultivated for its aromatic bitter properties, — which have rendered it a 

 prominent article in the popular Materia Medica. It has now escaped 

 from the gardens, and is becoming naturalized — and something of a 

 weed — in many places. 



19. ARTEMI'SIA, L. Woemwood. 



[Said to be so called from Artemis, — one of the names of Diana.] 



Heads discoid, few- or many-flowered, the marginal florets pistillate in a 

 single series, and 3-lobed, — or sometimes the heads are with the florets 

 all perfect. Scales of the involucre imbricated, mostly dry, with scari- 

 ous margins. Receptacle flattish or convex, naked or villous. Akenes 

 obovoid, with a small epigynous disk, destitute of pappus. Herbaceous 

 or fruticose — mostly perennial plants. Leaves alternate, usually pinnat- 

 ifid. Heads small, racemose, or paniculately spicate. 



* Receptacle naked ; the central or disk-jiorets sterile. 



1. A. Dracun'culus, L. Herbaceous, green and glabrous ; stem erect, 

 branching ; radical leaves trifid at apex, — stem-leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 sub-dentate or entire ; heads subglobose, racemose-paniculate. 



Little Deagon Artemisia. Tarragon, 



Fr. Bstragon. Germ. Bsdragon. Span. Estragon. 



Root perennial. Stem 2-3 feet high. Leaves 1 -2 or 3 inches long, mostly entire sessile, 

 narrowed at each end, those on the branches smaller. Heads small. Florets yellowish. 

 Gardens : cultivated. Native of Russia and Siberia. Fl. August. Fr. September. 



Obs. This species is sometimes cultivated in the kitchen gardens of 

 the curious, for the sake of its aromatic herbage. It is said to impart 

 a fine flavor to vinegar by steeping a bunch of the green herb in that 

 liquid. 



* * Receptacle hairy ; the florets all fertile. 



2. A. Absin'thium, L. Silky-canescent ; stem suffruticose, angular- 

 sulcate, paniculately branched above ; leaves bipinnatifid, — the seg- 

 ments lanceolate, often incised ; heads hemispherical, racemose-panicu- 

 late, nodding. 



Worm-wood. 



Fr. L' Absinthe. Germ. Der Wermuth. Span. Axenjo. 



Plant hoary with a short and rather dense silky pubescence. Root perennial. Stems 2- 

 4 feet high, clustered or numerous from the root. Leaves 1 - 2 or 3 inches long, petiolate, 

 multifld or irregularly bipinnatifid, — the principal segments often trifid and cuneate at 



