BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
LEAFLETS 
Series VII Brooklyn, N.Y., October 29, 1919. No. 9 
SOME BROOKLYN WEEDS 
Weeds are plants of robust growth which spring up on culti- 
vated ground, on roadsides or about waste places. They are 
usually of unattractive appearance; a few, such as the daisy, 
dandelion, bindweed and moneywort, have conspicuous flowers. 
Most of the weeds in the Eastern United States have come from 
Europe and Asia; some, such as ragweed, Galinsoga, amaranth, 
Jimson weed, velvetleaf, carpetweed and pokeweed, are American. 
In cities other flowering plants are often difficult to obtain, but 
weeds offer excellent opportunity for the study of many botanical 
subjects, such as the structure of flowers and fruits, seed dis- 
tribution, family characters, and other topics. 
The following list includes the principal weeds found in or 
near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. These are all flowering 
plants and belong to thirty-eight families, thus: 
DICOTYLEDONS, leaves netted-veined. 
Petals usually absent (apetalous), families 1-5. 
Petals separate (polypetalous) , families 6-21. 
Petals united (sympetalous), families 22-35. 
MONOCOTYLEDONS, leaves parallel-veined, families 36-38. 
Apetalae 
1 — Buckwheat Family, sheaths about swollen joints. Dock 
( Rumex crispa and Patienlia ) Eu., Field Sorrel (A*. Acetosella ) 
Eu.; Creeping Knotweed ( Polygonum avicvlcire) Eu., Smartweed 
(P. Persicaria) Eu., Climbing Knotweed ( P . Convolvulus) Eu. 
2 — Goosefoot Family, minute greenish flowers, ovary one- 
celled. Goosefoot {Chenopodium album) Eu., Wormseed (C. am- 
brosioides) Am.; Orach {A triplex patula and A. palula hasfala) 
Am. and Eu. 
3— Amaranth Family, dry persistant bracts. Amaranth 
( Amararithus ) Am. 
