Compositae
(Compound Family.)
A large order which gets its name from having its flowers compounded of numerous small ones called florets which are enclosed in bracts, resembling a calyx, called an involucre. The calyx springs from the top of the ovary and becomes a pappus, i.e. a feathery head around the fruit such as the pappus of dandelion. The prevailing color of the flowers is white and yellow.
In the Dandelion group the florets are strap-shaped pistil.
In the thistle group the florets form a convex head and are all tubular. Flowers mostly purple.
In the Tansy group all the florets are tubular and perfect and form a flat head.
In the Daisy group the flowers are of two kinds, those of the centre or disk are tubular and perfect, those of the margin or ray, strap-shaped and have pistils only. The disk is generally yellow, except in cilloea in which all the flowers are white. The ray is either of the same color or white as in aster.
Leontodon Taraxacum.---Dandelion. Flower stalks hollow, smooth, bearing a single flower, yellow.
Taraxacum Autumnalis.---Fall Dandelion. Often mistaken for the former but flower stalk is branched and leaves smaller. Flowers later in the season.
Cnicus Palustris.---Marsh thistle. Flower heads clustered. Leaves thorny, often brownish; 4 to 19 feet high. Flowers deep purple, sometimes white.
Centaurea Nigra.---Knapweed, commonly called thistle. No thorns. Flowers dull purple. Scales of involucre brown or almost black.
Eupatorium Purpurea.---Joe Pye weed. Thorburn Road, near Freshwater Road, 3 to 6 feet high. Terminal corymbs of crowded heads of dull lilac flowers with very long deeply cloven styles. Leaves in whorls. Stems of leaves often dotted?.
Solidago.---Golden Rod. Numerous varieties.
Solidago Canadensis.—Tall and stout. 3 to 6 ft. high. Leaves pointed, hairy beneath and rough above. Heads small.
Solidago Uliginosa.----A more graceful plant then [sic] the last.
Solidago Juncea.---One of the larger kinds but not so large as Canadensis is.
Solidago Macrophylla.
Senecio Vulgaris.---Groundsel. Leaves often embracing the steam, deeply lobed and toothed. A common garden weed. Flowers in crowded clusters, yellow.
Antennaria Margaritacea.---Everlasting. White woolly herb. Leaves entire. Flowers all tubular. Heads many-flowered. Scales of the involuere pearly white.
Matricaria Inodora.---Smooth branching herbs. Leaves divided into fine, almost thread like, lobes. Heads large with large rays. Rays white, Disk yellow.
Achillea Millefolium. Milfoil.----Deadman’s flowers. 1 to 2 ft. high. Leaves pinnatifid, woolly or slightly hairy. Flowers in thick terminal corymbs, white or pinkish. Grows in waste places and by the roadside. Has a slightly aromatic odor.
Aster Radula.---Farewell to summer. One of the latest flowers to appear. Disk yellow. Rays violet. Stem simple or branching at the top. Leaves pointed, rough, sessile.
Aster Umbellata.---Tall Racemes many-flowered. Disk yellow. Ray white.
Prenanthes Serpentaria.---Arrow shaped leaves. Flowers drooping in close heads, dull yellow or white.
