Descriptive Flora 



153 



along simple flower stalks similarly rising out of the mud and 

 usually hidden under the umbrella-like leaves. Petals 5. Stamens 

 5. Seed cases small, flat, ribbed, broader than long. Plants 

 creep and spread by slender underground stems. Always rooted 

 in moist soil or mud, sometimes in shallow water often filling 

 shallow ditches and creek beds. The petioles of these leaves vary 

 in length depending on the depth of the water. I have seen some 

 fully 2' long. Children play a game with the leaves called 

 1 ' Dimes, nickels and dollars. ' 9 



Bowlesia septmtrionalis Coult. & Rose. Rabbit Lettuce. 



A common lawn weed with weak stems and simple, opposite 

 leaves broader than long, about 1 inch wide and *4 to y% long, 

 and usually 5-lobed with the lateral lobes frequently slightly in- 

 cised. Flowers inconspicuous, minute, yellowish, single or in 

 small globular clusters almost buried in the axils of the leaves. 

 Petals 5, minute. Seed cases small, broader than long, strongly 

 2-lobed, covered with star-shaped hairs (use lens). Plant is one 

 of the the earliest annuals and in January and February grows 

 singly or forms a thick green mat over large areas of waste 

 ground. In late summer the prostrate branches get 6 to 18" 

 long, and thread grass and weeds. Forms an excellent forage 

 for rabbits. Often mistaken for sour grass. 



Eryngium leavenwortfhii Torr. & Gray. Bryngo. 



Button Snake-root. 



Leafy, thistle-like plants, the stems tipped with bright 

 purple, globular or oblong flower heads each crowded with 3 or 

 4 leaf-like, spiny bracts that come straight out of the middle of 

 the top. Leaves usually palmately 3-parted, each lobe having 

 several spiny teeth. Late summer and fall. Rare. 



Chaerophyllum, dasycarpum Coult. & Rose. Chervil. 



Queen Anne's Lace. 

 {CTiaerophyllwm tainturieri var dasycarpum [Nutt.] Hook.) 

 Slender, erect or somewhat weak-stemmed plants with 



