The Indiana weed book

UC-NRLF

Indiana

the

BY

W/S. BLATCHLEY

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK

BY W. S. BLATCHLEY

i |

Author of "Gleanings from Nature," "A Nature Wooing," "Boulder Reveries,1
"Woodland Idyls," "The Coleoptera of Indiana," etc.

;'Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed."

— Tennyson.

INDIANAPOLIS:

THE NATURE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1912.

l3\oC \;v
"If I knew

Only the herbs and simples of the wood,
Rue, cinquefoil, gill, vervain and agrimony,
Bine-vetch and trillium, hawkweed, sassafras,
Milkweeds and murky brakes, quaint pipes and sundew.
And rare and virtuous roots, which in these woods
Draw untold juices from the common earth,
Untold, unknown, and I could surely spell
Their fragrance, and their chemistry apply
By sweet affinities to human flesh.
Driving the foe and stablishing the friend —
O, that were much, and I could be a part
Of the round day, related to the sun
And planted world, and full executor
Of their imperfect functions.
But these young scholars, who invade our hills,
Bold as the engineer who fells the wood,
And travelling often in the cut he makes,
Love not the flower they pluck, and know it not,
And all their botany is Latin names." — Emerson.

Copyright, 1912.
BY W. S. BLATCHLEY.

"How ineffably vast and how hopelessly infinite is the study of \\:\-
ture! If a mere dilletante observer like myself— a saunterer who gathers
posies and chronicles butterflies by the wayside for the pure love of them
— were to tell even all that he has noticed in passing of the manners and
habits of a single weed — of its friends and its enemies, its bidden gnests
and its dreaded foes, its attractions and its defenses, its little life history
and the wider life history of its race — he would fill a whole book up with
what he knows about that one little neglected flower ; and yet he would
have found out after all but a small fraction of all that could be known
about it, if all were ever knowable." — (Inint Mien.

PREFACE.

"Tou^h thistles choked the fields and killed the corn,
And an unthrifty crop of weeds was borne." — Drifdcn.

Long has it been said that ';An ill weed grows apace," yet few
are the books that tell us how to check that growth. The wild
plants which dwell most closely with us, those with which we are
most familiar, are many of them ;' weeds," yet of them and their
history we know but little. Whence came they? How did they
get here? What, if any, are their uses? What is their place
among other plants in the great scheme of Nature? How can we
best control or get rid of them? Those are the questions which
we endeavor to answer in this book on Indiana weeds.

By the U. S. Department of Agriculture it has been estimated
that to crop and meadow lands weeds cause an average annual
loss of one dollar per acre. As at least two-thirds of the area of
Indiana is comprised of such lands it follows that the annual loss
in this State is $15,509,330 from weeds alone. This great loss
falls almost wholly upon the farmer, and it is for him, therefore,
that this book has been especially written. In the simplest man-
ner possible we have endeavored to describe the worst weeds of
the State, show their place among other plants and give the most
practicable methods for their control or eradication.

While the average farmer spends most of his years in fighting
weeds, he knows too little about them. A man is not considered
much of a carpenter unless he knows the different kinds of lum-
ber and the uses to which ^acli can best be put ; nor can he be-
come much of a printer unless he gets acquainted with the dif-
ferent forms of type and learns how best to set them for the most
effective display. "Why, then, should not the farmer strive to un-
derstand the true character of each of those plants which it is his
especial duty to either cultivate or extiq^ate? The close study of
soils, fertilizers, weeds, live stock and other factors of the farm
is rapidly raising the science of husbandry to a plane where it is
no longer regarded as irksome drudgery, but as one of the highest
callings of a free and intellectual people. Just as the old Roman

(3)

INDIANA WEED BOOK.

,t, most content while fighting the w^eeds
in'his c^Ubage"pfatch,*sd<?ill other gardeners and farmers are per-
forming man's noblest duty, when they are endeavoring to make
twro blades of grass grow where but one has grown before. And
especially is this true if that one was only a weed.

Not only for the farmers but also for the schools, where the
future farmers will be educated, has the book been prepared. A
farm-boy and a teacher has the writer been, and knows somewhat,
therefore, the needs of both. While to the minds of most people
wreeds and poetry may seem to have little in common, the average
boy or girl of 15 or thereabouts delights in an apt quotation, a
legend or a bit of history which will illuminate the subject in
hand. A little poetry and folk-lore, therefore, has been added
here and there to give a zest to the work. The farmer, if he be a
disciple of CUrad grind and so content only with facts, can blow
this off as froth and drink in only the more substantial draught
which lies below.

In this connection we cannot do better than to once again quote
Grant Allen, who says: "Our thoughts about nature are often
too largely interwoven with hard technicalities concerning rotate
corollas and pedicellate racemes; and I for my part am not
ashamed to confess that I like sometimes to see the dry light of
science diversified with some will-o'-the-wisp of pure poetical imag-
ination. After all. these things too are themselves matters for the
highest science ; and that kind of scientific man who cannot recog-
nize their use and interest is himself as yet but a one-sided crea-
ture, a chemical or biological Gradgrind, still spelling away at the
woak and beggarly elements of knowledge, instead of skimming
the great book of nature easily through with a free glance from
end to end. Surely there are more things in heaven and 'earth
than are dreamed of in Gradgrind's philosophy!"

*
* *

"Wayside swigs and meadow blossoms; nothing perfect, nothing rare;
Every poet's ordered garden yields a hundred flowers more fair;
Master-singers know a music richer far beyond compare.

Yet the reaper in the harvest, 'mid the burden and the heat,
Hums a half remembered ballad, finds the easy cadence sweet —
Sees the very blue of heaven in the corn-bloom nt his feet."

— Van Di/kc.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. Feb. 20, 1012.

ON WEEDS IN GENERAL.

From the day that man with a crooked stick first tickled the
ground about the roots of some favorite plant which he desired to
grow more rapidly, and pulled from around it other plants that it
might have a better supply of air, moisture and sunshine — from
that dny wce.ch have existed upon the face of earth. Before that
day each and every plant was on an equality, fighting its own
battles in its own way, spreading far and wide by rootstocks and
seed its kind, evolving year by year some property, some character
which would the better enable it to succeed in the great struggle
for existence. But when man for the first time began to domesti-
cate certain plants — to help them fight the battle of life — to set
off certain areas in which he wished them alone to grow — all
plants which were in any way harmful to his plans he called
"weeds." From that day to this he has had to fight them, and
from as far back as the time of Juno — according to old Homer —
whenever he begins to get the better of them

"Old Earth perceives and from her bosom pours
Unbidden herbs and voluntary flowers."

Many of the plants which that first gardener called weeds pos-
sessed hidden virtues, properties of excellence, which other men,
far down the vista of the years, discovered. These plants they
began to cultivate, to utilize, and so removed them from the cate-
gory of weeds. Meanwhile some of the first of cultivated plants,
when carried to other parts of the earth, have either lost those
properties which rendered them useful to man or have, through
a change of soil and other environment, become so successful, so
aggressive, that they spread and intrude upon the areas set aside
for other plants favored by man, and have become the most com-
mon of weeds. So the list of weeds is ever changing, some being
added here, others subtracted there, until it is different in every
country, state or nation on earth and is nowhere settled or stable.

(5)

6 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

DEFINITION OP A WEED.

As a result of the conditions stated there are many definitions
of a weed, among them being:

(«) "A plant out of place or growing where it is not wanted."

(1)) "A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." — Emerson.

(c) "An herb which is useless or troublesome and without special
beauty.

(rf) "Tobacco."

(<") , "A plant which contests with man for the possession of the soil.''

(f) "A useless plant growing wild, of sufficient size to be easily no-
ticeable and of sufficient abundance to be injurious to the farmer."

((/) "Any injurious, troublesome or unsightly plant that is at the
same time useless or comparatively so."

The reader, be he student, teacher, poet or farmer, can choose
from the above definitions or others the one which suits best his own
taste, fancy, belief or experience. Suffice it to say that whether
a plant is a weed or no depends wholly upon the point of view.
Many a plant, which is among the worst of weeds to a farmer, is
to the poet or naturalist a flower of surpassing beauty. The list
of Indiana weeds which follows is based upon the standpoint of the
farmer, and comprises the 227 of the 2,000 and more plants grow-
ing wi]d in the State* which are thought to be the most harmful
to his interests. During its compilation definitions (/) and (</),
above given, have been the ones considered.

Those plants which have become the most common or "worst
weeds" are those which have been most successful in evolving
methods or properties of defending themselves against being de-
stroyed by nlant-eating animals; in devising means for ready and
rapid cross-fertilization, either by wind or insects, and in provid-
ing for themselves effective means of distributing tl-eir see^s or
other ways of propagation wh-?n the seeds are difficult to ripen.
Under the head of the Nettle Family, in the list which follows,
are mentioned some of the ways by which plants defend them-
selves from browsing animals. The ox-eye daisy and related weeds
of the Compositae Family have been most successful in devising
methods for fertilization of a large number of flowers in a short
time by insects, while the grasses and plantains are adepts in pro-
ducing means for wind fertilization.

*0f£ these, 1 ,783 are" listed in Sianley Coulter's "Cafalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns and Their
Allies Indigenous to Indiana," published in 1899. In various papers published ?ince that date in the Proceedings
of the Indiana Academy of Science, 177 additional species have been recorded,

METHODS OF WEF.D SEED MIGRATION. 7

DISTRIBUTION OF WEED SEEDS.

Our worst weeds are in general those which have devised the
most successful ways of distributing; their seeds to fields and pas-
tures new, where the competition will not he so great as in the
immediate vicinity of the parent plant. Many are the methods
used and a number of agents or factors enter into this seed dis-
semination, chief among which are wind, water, birds, animals and
man, his machinery and methods of commerce. These different
methods of seed distribution should be of especial interest to the
farmer, for a knowledge of them will often enable him to trace the
source of some noxious migratory weed which has appeared upon
his land, and will cause him to be on the lookout for it from the
same or similar origin. Moreover, some of the factors of seed dis-
tribution are partly or wholly under his control, while others, such
as water and wind, are wholly beyond his power to lessen.

SEEDS CARRIED BY WIND. — The wind is one of the most potent
factors in the wide distribution of weed seeds. Many weeds, as
those of thistle, dandelion, fire weed, prickly lettuce, etc., have each
seed enclosed in a little case to the top of which is joined a tuft of
downy hairs, thus enabling them to be lifted and carried several
miles by the wind; in the case of the milkweeds the tuft is attached
to the seed itself. Some of the grasses have long hairs upon the
chaff surrounding the grain, which serves the same purpose, while
some of the docks, the actinomeris and others have the seeds or
achenes winged or expanded on the sides so that they are easily
lifted and borne onward by a passing breeze. (Fig. 1, a and /.)

The seeds of many weeds are blown long distances over the
surface of snow, ice or frozen ground. The ragweeds, velvet-leaf,
docks, pigweeds, chickweed and different weeds of the grass family
are examples of those whose seeds are so distributed.

Some plants after ripening their seeds are broken off near the
ground and rolled over and over by the wind, the seeds dropping
off at intervals along the way. These "tumble-weeds" as they are
called, include our Indiana weeds known as old-witch grass, Rus-
sian thistle, two species of amaranth and the buffalo bur, besides
a number of others.

SEEDS CARRIED BY WATER. — Water is an important agent in the
dispersion of the seeds of many weeds, especially those which grow
in flood plains or along the banks of streams. The great ragweed,
smartweeds, bindweeds and others depend largely upon the an-
nual overflows for the wide spreading of their seeds. The seeds

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

of many weeds growing on uplands are continually being washed
down the slopes into lowland soils where many of them germinate
and flourish. So long as careless farmers on the higher grounds
allow the seeds of noxious weeds to ripen, just so long will the
farmers on the lowlands have weed seeds scattered over their fields
by countless thousands. Many weeds bearing ripened seeds and
growing along the banks of streams are washed bodily into the cur-
rent when the banks cave off, and are carried for miles down
stream, finally lodging in bed of silt or bottom field, in soil well
suited to the future plant.

BIRDS AS SEED CARRIERS. — The berries or seed pods of certain
weeds are eaten by birds for the nutriment found in the outer pulp
and the hard seeds pass undigested. The nightshades, poison ivy,
pokeweed, blackberry and pepper-grass are some weeds whose
seeds are thus distributed. The seeds of thistles, ragweeds, dande-
lions, knot-grass and other weeds are often eaten in such quantities
by sparrows and other birds that many of them are doubtless un-
digested and are distributed in new localities.

Water birds often carry seeds long distances in mud which
has become encased or hardened on their feet. Darwin, in his
' ' Origin of Species, ' ' states that he took in February, 3 tablespoon-
fuls of mud from 3 different points beneath water on the edge of
a little pond. This mud, when dried, weighed only 6J ounces and
in the viscid state was all contained in a breakfast cup. He kept
it in his study for six months, pulling up and counting each plant
as it grew ; the plants were of many kinds and were altogether 537
in number. It is very easy, therefore, for birds to distribute many
seeds in this way.

A bird also sometimes catches up a sprig of a plant and carries
it where the seeds can be eaten without molestation, the act re-
sulting in a wide scattering of the seed.

ANIMALS AS SEED CARRIERS. — Many weeds have developed spines
or small hooks on their seeds or seed vessels by which they become
attached to the fur of every passing animal, and especially to the
wool of sheep, manes of horses and clothing of man, and are then
borne far and Avide before being dislodged. Thus we have the
burs of burdock, cocklebur and bur-grass; the hooked achenes of
the buttercups; the barbed hairs of the fruits or seed vessels of
wild carrots; the prickly nutlets of hound's tongue and beggars'
lice; the bristly pod-joints of the seed-ticks or tick-trefoils and
the barbed achenes of the bur-marigolds, beggar-ticks and Spanish
needles. The seeds of the mustards, when moistened, exude a mu-

RAILWAYS AS CARRIERS OF WEED SEEDS.

cilage which causes them to adhere to every passing object. Live
stock taken from one farm or one locality to another often carry
many of these seeds or burs in wool, manes or tails, and many a
clean farm has from this cause suddenly produced crops of weeds
whose origin doubtless puzzled and dismayed the owner. The
parts of seeds or fruits which have been evolved as clasping organs
are thus seen to be varied in form and structure, but each has
enabled the plant to which it belongs to migrate time and again
to a new home where it could the better fight the battle of life.

MAN AS AN AGENT OF SEED DISTRIBUTION. — The plants which
have become the most successful weeds of the farm have had their
seeds spread more widely through the agency of man than through
all other methods combined. His roads and trails wind evervwhere

Fig. 1. Ill stratiag methods of seed distribution: a, seeds (achenes) of dandelion with pappu? attached,
several of them still borne on the receptacle: b, fruit of beggar-ticks showing the barbed awns; c and d, burs or
fru'ts of cocklebur and burdock, showing the grappling appendages; e, fruit of wild carrot, showing the clutching
spines; /, winged fruit of wafer-ash. (After Kerner and Beal.)

through plain and forest; his railway lines bind every State to-
gether and connect with steamship lines from across the seas, and
along all these avenues of commerce weed seeds are constantly
travelling, sometimes as paid passengers in company with grain
and other farm seeds, but more often as hoboes in hay, bedding,
packing, shipments of fruit, etc.

The great east and west trunk lines of railways are responsible
for the wide distribution of many a weed, such as the Russian
thistle, prickly lettuce, Canada, thistle and Texas nettle, which
first appear in any locality along a railway. The seeds are carried
either in the coats of cattle or sheep, in the hay which supports
them on their journey, or in the bedding on the floor of the car.
Dropping at intervals all along the line the seeds find excellent

10 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

beds in the bared soil along the tracks where they sprout and grow
until ready to take another step in advance. The botanist has
learned their ways of migration and knows that if he wishes to
find new and interesting species his best pathway will be alongside
the railways.

Man^y seeds are introduced in the packing about crates of china
or glassware, shipments of nursery stock and in baled hay. Many
more are distributed by being mixed with commercial seeds, such
as those of clover, wheat, flax and grasses.

On his harrows, plows and cultivators the farmer often carries
pieces of rootstocks, bulbs, etc, from one field or farm to another.
Perennial weeds such as couch-grass, trumpet-creeper, bouncing
bet, bindweed and ox-eye daisy are the ones most generally scat-
tered in this manner. Wagons, self-binders and especially thresh-
ing machines are responsible for the distribution of many weed
seeds which are jostled from them as they pass along the roadways
or over the fields from farm to farm. Many a well managed farm
often becomes infested with noxious weeds in this way. Barnyard
manures, and especially manures hauled from cities and towns
where much of the feed-stuffs have been purchased from a distance,
are also active agents in the spread of weed seeds.

The above are some of the indirect ways in which man has
brought about the wide distribution of noxious weeds. He is also
directly responsible for the spread of many weeds by introducing
them into his gardens or fields, cultivating them for a time and
then allowing them to escape. Such well known weeds as wild
garlic, purslane, tansy, bouncing bet, oxe-eye daisy, chicory, wild
carrot, butter and eggs, catnip and motherwort have been widely
spread in this way. Suffice it to say that many of our most com-
mon weeds are those which have been introduced directly or in-
directly by man into some locality, have there been allowed to
grow for a few years in his cultivated fields or under his care,
and have thus become acclimated and better adapted for a wide
and successful migration throughout the land.

Those weeds which are most common and successful in culti-
vated fields are in general those which by reason of a quick growth
are enabled to produce and ripen an enormous number of seeds.
Careful estimates made by the Towa and Kansas Experimental
Stations show that the number of seeds produced by a single aver-
age full grown specimen of 15 of our most common weeds is as
follows :

WEED ASSOCIATIONS BASED ON ENVIRONMENT. 11

Crab-grass S9,600 Velvet Leaf 31,900

Yellow Foxtail 113,600 Purslane Speedwell 186,300

Pigweed 85,000 Dandelion 1,729

Tumble-weed 14,000 Kngweed . 23,100

Purslane (5(.),()00 Oocklebur 9,700

Pepi>er-grass 12,22.") Beggar-ticks 10,500

Charlock 9,1100 Ox-eye Daisy 6,750

Shepherd's Purse 17,000

WEED COMMUNITIES OR ASSOCIATIONS.

Many weeds, like misery, love company. Certain species when
they travel go together and settle down in a little community on
a tract of land having an environment especially suited to their
taste and manner of growth. Thus along roadsides and cow-paths
one finds the knot-grass, black medic, wire-grass, dog-fennel, rib-
wort and prickly sida; in barnyards the jimson-weed, mother-
wort, burdock, catnip, water-pepper and yellow dock; in lawns and
country yards the dandelion, common pkmtain, shepherd's purse
and -round-leaved mallow. The most of these are so-called "social
weeds," forming company not only for themselves but for man
and accompanying him everywhere in his march across the conti-
nent. On the half -barren slopes of old fields there usually occurs
a little community made up of the evening primrose, mullen, field
sorrel, pennyroyal, cinquefoil, steelweed and ox-eye daisy, with
usually a few blackberry briers and a clump of fragrant everlast-
ing to bear them company. In rich soil along the borders of up-
land thickets occurs the figwort, ground ivy, blue lettuce, wood
nettles and trefoils; in open woodland pastures, the common
thistle, iron-weed, aetinomeris, pokeweed, hawkweeds and Indian
tobacco; on river banks, especially near towns, the white sweet-
clover, bouncing bet, teasel, wormseed, milkweed, and prickly let-
tuce; while in rich alluvial lowlands grow the great horse-weed,
willow aster, cocklebur, bindweed, smartweed and wild sweet po-
tato. Numerous other plant associations could be mentioned but
the above are more than sufficient to show that weeds are gregarious
and that those which have similar tastes tend, like birds of a
feather, to flock together.

T?IE ORIGIN OF INDIANA WEEDS.

Having noted the various ways in which weeds are distributed
over the earth it is not surprising to find that in Indiana the great
majority of our very worst weeds are aliens from a foreign shore.
They are the ones which have succeeded best in crowding out and

12 THK INDIANA WEED BOOK.

displacing our wild and cultivated native plants and in taking, if
unmolested, complete possession of the soil. Most of these foreign
weeds possess that "ingrained coarseness, scrubbiness, squalor and
sordidness, that stringiness of fibre, hairiness of surface or prickly
defensive character" which marks them as masters of the plant
world, as weeds par excellence.

Of the 150 species of plants which are hereafter listed as being
most harmful to the farmers of the State, 77 are natives of Indiana,
that is, indigenous to her soil, while 73 are introduced species. Of
the latter 58 came from Europe, 2 from Asia, 8 from tropical
America and 5 from the plains of the Western States.

These 150 weeds are grouped in 3 classes. Class I. comprises
our worst weeds, those which are fighters from start to finish, not
only holding the soil in which they grow but ever striving to gain
a hold on new territory. Of the 150, 46 belong to this class, and
of the 46, 34 are introduced and only 12 are native to the State.
Of the 34 foreign species 27 came from Europe, 2 from Asia, 4
from tropical America and 1 from the West.

Class II. comprises those weeds which are less aggressive, but
are yet annoying to the farmer and the gardener. All have a
weedy character and many of them seem to be waiting only for
the proper conditions to arrive before jumping over the line into
Class I. This Class is evenly divided, 32 species being introduced
and the same number native to the State. Of the 32 outsiders, 24
are from Europe, 4 from tropical America and 4 from the West.

To Class III. belong those weeds which in Indiana occupy for
the most part waste farm lands, rarely encroaching upon cultivated
fields, or if they do being easily subdued by hoe or scythe. A
number of them yield more or less forage for grazing stock, while
some are cut for hay when other crops are short. Of the 40
species belonging to this group 33 are native to our soil while 7
came from Europe.

It must be borne in mind that this grouping is only from the
view-point of the writer, based upon long observation of the weeds
of the State. The reader may, from personal experience, have a
widely different opinion as to which class a certain weed should
be assigned. Moreover, this grouping refers only to the weeds of
Indiana. Some of those in Class III. are doubtless members of
Class II. or even I. in other States, while some of the worst of
Class I. may there do little harm.

In addition to the 150 weeds listed and described, 77 others
are, in their proper order, mentioned and briefly characterized.

LOSSES ENTAILED BY RAISING WEEDS. 18

They are closely related to or sometimes only varieties of those de-
scribed, and the differences in habits being small and remedies for
eradication practically the same, space was not taken for their
more extended mention. Some of them, however, are bad weeds, 9
belonging to Class I., 36 to Class II. and 32 to Class III. Of the
77, 31 are introduced and 46 native to Indiana, 7 of the 9 worst
ones being foreigners.

If to the 46 worst weeds listed we add the 9 briefly charac-
terized, we have in the State 55 of the most aggressive of weeds.
Of these 41, or 75 per cent., are of foreign origin. About the same
proportion of alien weeds is seen by anyone who travels through
the Eastern States, In fact, America seems to be not only the
"home of the oppressed of all nations" but her soil seems to suit
exactly those weeds which are the offscourings and refuse of civil-
ization in all countries. As Grant Allen has well said: "In civi-
lized, cultivated and inhabited New England, and as far inland at
least as the Mississippi, the prevailing vegetation is the vegetation
of Central Europe, and that at its wreediest, The daisy, the prim-
rose, the cowslip and the daffodil have stayed at home; the weeds
have gone to colonize the New World. For thistles and burdock,
dog-fennel and dead-nettle, hound's tongue and stick-seed, catnip
and dandelion, ox-eye daisy and cocklebur, America easily licks all
creation. All the dusty, noisome and malodorous pests of all the
world seem there to revel in one grand congenial democratic orgy."

How WEEDS LESSEN THE OUTPUT OF THE FARM.

The greatest question on earth to-day is, How long will the
soil feed the human race ? Any factor which will serve to increase
that time, even in small degree, is of great economic importance.
The population of Indiana is ever increasing. The number of
acres of land within her bounds will be the same as long as those
bounds remain as they are. To increase the output of the land
and make the gain in yield of farm products to some extent keep
pace with the increase in population is at present the leading
problem which the more intelligent farmers of the State are trying
to solve. One of the greatest factors in this problem is that of
weeds. It is a self-evident fact that in all parts of the State they
are in many ways a source of constant and heavy loss in the out-
put of the farm. Some of these ways are briefly set forth in the
following paragraphs :

a. They rob the soil of much of that plant food so necessary
to the proper growth of cultivated crops. As a single example of

14

FNDIAKA WEED BOOK.

this robbery it has been shown by the Massachusetts Experiment
Station that "one ton of ox-eye daisy withdraws from the soil 25
pounds of potash, 8.7 pounds of phosphoric acid, 22 pounds of
nitrogen and 26 pounds of lime. To restore the stated amounts
of the first three constituents to the soil it would be necessary to
apply about 50 pounds of muriate of potash, 65 pounds of super-
phosphate and 140 pounds of nitrate of soda."' It will thus be
seen that this, as well as all other weeds, feed upon precisely the
same foods as do wheat, corn and other cereal crops. The}^ de-
prive the crop with which they grow, or one which will come after
it, of exactly the same amount of plant food as they withdraw,

Fig. 2. Mixture of weed seeds commonly found in low-grade alsike clover seed: a, alsike clover; 6, white
clover; c, red clover; d, yellow sweet-clover; e, Canada thistle; /, dock; g, field sorrel; h, buckhorn; t, rat-
tail plantain; k, lamb's-quarters; /, shepherd's purse; m, dog-fennel; n, scentless camomile; o, white campion;
p, night-flowering catch-fly; q, ox-eye daisy; r, small-fruited false flax; s, cinquefoil; t, two kinds of pepper-
grass; u, catnip; r, timothy; x, chickweed; y, Canada blue-grass; z, clover dodder; /, mouse-ear chickweed;
2, knot-grars; 3, tumbling pigweed; 4, rough pigweed; 5, heal-all; 6, lady's thumb. (After Hillman.)

and if allowed to grow with other crops will take their due pro-
portion of any fertilizer that may be applied.

ft. They rob the soil of moisture which they waste by evapora-
tion, thus increasing the evil effects of droughts.

c. They crowd out and shade cultivated plants, thus greatly
decreasing the yield of the latter. Most weeds have better devel-
oped roots which penetrate to a greater depth than those of the
plants with which they grow. They therefore gather food and
moisture more readily and usually soon out-top many crops,
shutting out the sunlight so necessary to perfect maturity of the
cultivated plants.

'Far. Bull. No. 103.

WEEDS POISONOUS TO STOCK AND CHILDREN. 15

d. They increase the cost of any crop not only by taking the
time of labor to keep them in subjection, but by retarding, espe-
cially in cereal crops, the work of preparing the ground, seeding,
harvesting, threshing, cleaning the grain and marketing the out-
put.

c. They cause a greater wear and tear on farm machinery,
especially mowers, binders and threshing machines, often causing
them to clog and break.

/. They frequently necessitate an unprofitable change in the
rotation of crops, causing the farmer to produce some crop of little
profit in order the more quickly to get rid of a certain weed.

g. Some weeds such as corn cockle and wild garlic are espe-
cially injurious to wheat, as when ground with it they render the
flour poisonous and unpalatable. Others, as buckhorn, dodder and
field sorrel, produce seeds which are very difficult to separate from
the seeds of clover, thus greatly increasing the cost of the latter.

Ji. Very few weeds furnish pasture or food for stock and some
of them, as the water hemlock, sneezeweed, etc., are very poison-
ous when eaten by them. The burs of others are very annoying
in wool, the manes of horses or the tails of horses and cattle.

i. Weeds such as the nightshades, water hemlock, bitter sweet,
pokeweed, jimson, etc., often cause the death or serious illness of
children.

j. Many weeds furnish food or hibernating places for injurious
insects. Examine carefully the winter rosettes or root-leaves of a
mullen, or note the melon lice on shepherd's purse and pepper-
grass, and be convinced. Others are propagating plants for rusts
and mildews which attack vegetables and small grains of many
kinds.

/)•. Finally most weeds are unsightly objects, being at some or
all stages of their existence eyesores whose presence not only in-
dicates a negligent and slovenly farmer but damages the appear-
ance and lessens the value of any land which he may wish to sell.

BENEFITS OF WEEDS.

To the practical farmer, who delights in a highly productive
and clean farm, weeds offer apparently little of value to offset their
many disadvantages. Yet they possess some virtues and are not
to be considered wholly as enemies.

When plowed under they of course add some humus and fer-
tility to the soil, while if allowed to grow after a crop has been
harvested they shade the ground thus conserving many forms of

16 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

plant food. Their greatest benefit, however, lies in the fact that
they induce frequent and thorough cultivation of the soil, thus
increasing largely the output of any crop which may be grown.
On this point L. H. Bailey maintains: '"That weeds always have
been and still are the closest friends and helpmates of the farmer.
It was they which first taught the lesson of the tillage of the soil,
and it is they which never allow the lesson, now that it has been
partly learned, to be forgotten. The one only and sovereign rem-
edy for them is the very tillage which they have introduced. When
their mission is finally matured, therefore, they will disappear, be-
cause there will be no place in which they can grow. It would be
a great calamity if they were now to disappear from the earth,
for the greater number of farmers still need the discipline which
they enforce. Probably not one farmer in ten would till his lands
well if it were not for these painstaking schoolmasters, and many
of them would not till at all. Until farmers till for tillage's sake,
and not to kill the weeds, it is necessary that the weeds' shall exist,
but when farmers do till for tillage's sake, then weeds will dis-
appear with no effort of ours. ' '

THE WEEDS OF CITIES AND TOWNS.

Weeds are not only a curse to the farmer but the city resident
is also greatly troubled with them. Many an hour does he spend
on his lawns, grubbing dandelions and other pests which are fight-
ing the blue-grass, while in his alleys and backyards many an un-
sightly species is constantly attempting to grow and ripen its
seeds. In all cities, and especially in and about country towns,
there are numerous vacant lots and commons which each year pro-
duce nothing but a big crop of the vilest of weeds. The largest
patch of Canada thistle which the writer ever saw was on one of
these waste places in the city of Indianapolis. Prickly lettuce and
sow-thistles, cockleburs and horse-weed, burdock and bull thistles,
spiny amaranth and pigweed, dog-fennel and Mexican tea, sweet-
clovers and wild mustard, jimson- weeds and wild carrots grow
rankly on these lots and form dense thickets through which a per-
son can scarcely force his way. Being for the most part level these
city or town lots have at some time been cultivated and the orig-
inal growth of grass and trees removed, leaving a surface excel-
lently adapted to these worst of migratory weeds. Their seeds are
introduced in many ways, more easily indeed than in the open
country, for here rubbish of all kinds is dumped, such as bedding
from stables and stock cars, packing from about china and glass-

WEEDS OF CITIES AND TOWNS. 17

ware, sweepings From elo suitors and grain stores and refuse from
kitchens. In many instances the lots are low and the owners have
them filled with the material mentioned, thus furnishing an exeel-
lent seed bed already planted for many a weed. Oftentimes these
weed patehs are wholly or partly surrounded by high bill-boards,
thus hiding the weeds from sight and allowing them to flourish
without molestation.

These city and town weeds, as long as growing vigorously, are
somewhat beneficial in that they serve to purify the air by using
carbonic acid gas and throwing off oxygen. As soon as they die,
however, they begin to decay and reverse this process, absorbing
the oxygen and throwing off the gas, and should be at once mowed
and removed. They gather dust and harbor bacteria and various
injurious fungi; shade the soil and keep it damp and sour; while
certain species produce great quantities of pollen which is often
very irritating. Growing as they do where many children congre-
gate, the poisonous species, such as pokeweed, nightshade and jim-
son are very apt to be eaten. The three-leaved ivy, with its at-
tractive foliage and poisonous juices or exhalations, often occurs
along the borders of these city lots and causes blisters on the skin
of many a youngster.

Instead of raising noxious weeds these vacant lots should be
put to more important uses. In most of the cities and larger
towns there are many poor people who would be glad to utilize
them for gardens. Such use would not depreciate their value for
building purposes and would greatly lessen the cost of living of
the needy and the amount necessarily bestowed in charity upon
them. In many places the weeds and rubbish can be removed at
a small cost, the surface leveled and sown to some perennial grass,
and the plot then used as a playground for children. Such play-
grounds are always welcomed in the crowded portions of the larger
cities, where open places for that romping and running so dear to
a child's heart and so necessary to its health, are often few or
absent.

CLASSIFICATION OF "WEEDS ACCORDING TO LIFE PERIOD.

Weeds, like other plants, are grouped, according to the length
of time they live, into three classes, vi/., annuals, biennials and
perennials.

ANNUALS. — An annual weed is one that rounds out its cycle
of existence within a single year Of these there are two sub-
classes, ordinary or "summer annuals" and "winter annuals."

[2]

18 THE IXDIAXA WEED BOOK.

Ordinary annuals spring from the seed in spring, mature, blossom
and ripen their seeds before the frosts of autumn. Ragweed, fox-
tail, purslane and crab-grass are 4 of our worst weeds which are
examples of this group. As a rule these summer annuals have
small fibrous roots and produce many seeds.

Winter annuals spring from the seed in late summer or au-
tumn, produce a growth of root-leaves before the ground is
thoroughly frozen, then in early spring send up a flower-stalk and
ripen their seeds usually by May or June. Shepherd's purse,
pepper-grass, white-top and prickly lettuce are among our worst
of winter annuals, while winter wheat and rye are cultivated ex-
amples. Some of these weeds are both winter and summer an-
nuals, a part of the seed germinating in the spring and the flowers
appearing much later in the season than those of the same species
from the winter annuals.

In dealing with annual weeds the one general and obvious
method is to destroy them in some manner before their seeds ripen.
This can best be done by mowing, pulling, cutting with the hoe
or smothering with the cultivator. If this be kept up for a few
years and the work thoroughly done they will be completed eradi-
cated from a farm. They would all be destroyed the first season
were it not for the fact that the seeds of many species possess
great vitality and often remain in the ground for years without
impairing their power of growth. When brought close enough to
the surface, if the conditions of moisture and temperature are
right, they usually sprout at once. Any method of cultivation,
especially in late fall or early spring, which will cause these buried
seeds to germinate will thus go far towards getting rid of annual
weeds, provided, of course, the young ones are killed as they ap-
pear. The young plants of ragweed, wild mustard, lamb's quar-
ters, black bindweed and many other annuals are easily uprooted
and killed by harrowing in autumn the growing crop of wheat,
oats or rye with a light slope-toothed harrow. After the crop is
well up, and there is no danger of covering the blades too deeply,
few if any grain plants will be dragged out if the work is done
when the land is in proper condition for harrowing

BIENNIALS. — A biennial is a two-year plant, that is, one which
springs from a seed and spends the first season in storing up a
supply of nourishment in a large root or tuber, this being used
the second season in promoting a rapid growth and producing
flowers and seeds. Among our worst biennial weeds are the com-
mon thistle, wild carrot, mullen, burdock and hound's tongue. Bi-

THE USE OP THE SPUD. 19

ennials grow for the most part along roadsides, borders of fields
and in pastures, as their roots will not withstand thorough culti-
vation.

Any method of destroying the root or the top of the plant be-
fore the seeds ripen will eventually get rid of this class of weeds in
cultivated ground. A single mowing which is sufficient
for most annuals will, however, not do with biennials, for
the thick root will immediately send up new stems. In
pastures and other places where cultivation is not prac-
ticable, deep cutting below the crown or bud of the root
is the best method of getting rid of biennials. This can
best be done with a heavy hoc or spud, the latter being a
large chisel set on the end of a long handle.*

PERENNIALS. — These are plants which spring up year
after year from the same or adjacent root systems. They
grow from seeds, creeping underground stems or root-
stocks, or from bulbous or tap-roots. When once started
they continue in the same spot or spread gradually from
it in all directions. Among our worst perennial weeds
which spread by rootstocks are the Canada thistle, bind-
weed, horse-nettle and couch-grass, while examples of
those \vith ordinary or tap-roots are plantains, curled dock
and steelweed.

Perennials are by far the most troublesome weeds to
chid eradicate and require in some instances the cultivation of
a special crop to get rid of them. Before attempting to
kill out sny one of then* a careful study of the under-
ground portion should be made as, until this is done, effective
eradication is impossible. As the leaves, like those of all plants,
are the special organs which manufacture and store food in the
roots and underground stems, several successive mowings each
year will so weaken the roots and stems of many perennials that
they will gradually die out. The task of mowing a perennial, such
as iron-weed, from a large tract several times each season is at

*In Canada and some of the northern states the spud is extensively used in effectively getting rid of many
weeds, but in Indiana it seems to he almost unknown. "It consists of a light, round handle, resembling that of a
broom, and of a blade shaped somewhat like that of a chisel, but more tapering from the end of the blade to the
handle on which it is ^tted like a common hoe. Its length is about 5 feet from end to end. The blade is about
8 inches long, 1% inches broad at the cutting end and 5^-inch broad at the shoulder. It should be thin, not
more than M-inch thick at shoulder and thinning gradually to the cutting edge. In using the spud in a wheat
field one walks astride a row of grain and cuts below the surface all noxious weeds within 6 feet on either side
thus clearing a strip of 12 feet in width. A small file should always he carried for sharpening the blade. The
spud is designed rather to maintain than to secure cleanliness, and is used most effectively to prevent the seeding
of scattered winter annual and biennial plants in cultivated fields, along fence-rows and roadsides." Shaw.
" Weeds and How to Eradicate Them." 103-105.

20

THE IXDTAXA WEED BOOK.

first a laborious one, but each year gradually lessens until in time
it takes but a few hours, whereas at first it may have taken a
week. A perennial with running rootstocks close to the surface can
often be in great part eradicated by several shallow plowings and
harrowings in summer, thus allowing the sun to reach and dry up
the underground parts; or it may be killed by covering deeply
with soil in early spring and so smothering out the perennial por-
tion, that is, preventing it from forming leaves to store up future
nourishment. Another method of dealing with perennial weeds is
to crowd them out with clover, rye or some early and rapidly grow-
ing crop. Many weeds are killed out more easily in this than any
other way.

GENERAL RULES FOR EXTERMINATING WEEDS AND KEEPING
THE FARM CLEAN.

1. Sow CLEAN SEED. — Examine carefully all seeds purchased,
especially those of clover and grasses, to see that they do not have

weed seeds mixed with them. It is far better
at any time to pay a high price for clean seed
than a low price for seed that will stock the
farm with weeds. If the farmer cannot buy
clean seed he should raise it upon a tract of
ground especially prepared and kept clean
for the purpose. In the list which follows a
Fig. 4. Linen tester. i)rief description of the seeds of each of the

Avorst weeds is given. A linen tester, which costs about 40 cents,
will enable one to recognize, after a little practice, 80 per cent, of
the seeds of Indiana weeds. A pocket
Coddington lens of one-half inch focus,
costing about $1.50, is still better and
will enable one to see the finer points
of ail seeds. These lenses can be had of
the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Ro-
chester, N. Y.

2. ROTATE THE CROPS. — Top many farmers of Indiana keep on
year after year "raising more corn to feed more hogs to buy more
land to raise more corn," etc. Not only this, but they raise corn
on the same land, especially if it be bottom ground, for 10 or more
years in succession. The weeds get used to this sort of thing and
know just what to expect and what to do to survive most success-
fully. Surprise them once by changing the program and note the

Fig. 5. Coddington lens.

RULES FOR EXTERMINATING WEEDS. 21

good results. A systematic short rotation of crops with regular
seeding down at short intervals to grasses or clover will do more
to solve the weed problem than any other rule which can be laid
down. In the same way that weeds crowd out crops and reduce
the yield, so may weeds themselves be choked out by these more
vigorous and thickly seeded crops which will prevent them from
getting light and air.

3. KEEP WEEDS FROM RIPENING SEEDS. — p]ach farmer owes it
not only to himself but to his neighbors to obey this the " golden
rule" of weed prevention. One slovenly farmer who neglects his
weeds is a bane to any neighborhood, for all surrounding him must
suffer for his neglect. Such a farmer lets the weeds grow and
ripen on the spots in his wheat fields where the corn shocks have
stood. He lets the jimson grow in the barnyard, the thistle by the
roadside, the burdock in the fence corners of his orchard Each
of these weeds is a placard on which the word "slovenly" ap-
pears in autumn to every passer-by.

Nothing is truer than the old adage

"A weed that runs to seed
Is a seven year's weed."

Especially is this true of the first specimen of any strange weed
that appears in a neighborhood. Then, if ever, should the old
Ovidian phrase, "Principiis obsta," be acted upon by the farmer.
"Nip the first buddings of evil" is a free translation. Cut with
a hoe or spud the stem of the stranger before it opens its bud and
perchance future generations will rise up and call ye blessed. Do
not think that because there are only a few weeds in a field that
you can afford to let them go. Each one which seeds this year will
perhaps be represented by 5,000 next year. The one can be de
stroyed in a few seconds, the 5,000 will require a day's hard work.

4. BURN OVER STUBBLE OR FALLOW FIELDS. — The seeds of a
myriad weeds can be easily destroyed in this way. Not only fu-
ture weeds but many injurious insects will also be killed. Almost
any field can be burned over in autumn without much danger by
running a couple of furrows around it and setting fire when the
wind is not too high.

5. PLOW IN AUTUMN. — The plowing and harrowing or other-
wise cultivating stubble and other fields in early autumn will cause
many seeds, especially those of annual weeds, to germinate. The
young weeds will mostly be winter-killed and those which survive

22 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

can be easily controlled by cultivation in early spring. The fall
plowing should not be done until the land has been burned over,
for weeds with ripened seeds should never be plowed under. Pall
plowing is also one of the best remedies for destroying wire-worms,
cut-worms, white grubs and many other larval forms of noxious in-
sects.

6. Do AWAY WITH MANY FENCES. — The removal of permanent
fences from between fields and the cultivation of the ground thus
redeemed will aid much in clearing the farm of weeds. Unless a
large amount of stock is kept on a farm but few inside fences are
really necessary. In many instances a temporary fence of wire
which can be shifted from place to place can be used to control
the stock. There is no more prolific breeding place for many
noxious weeds than along the fence-rows of cultivated fields. Es-
pecially is this true of the old Virginia rail fences. Many a plant
destined to become a scourge to the farmer ripens its first seeds
within the projecting and protecting angles of these old fences.
There, safe from the plow and the hoe, the future weed succeeds
in its struggle with its associates, ripens its seeds by scores or
thousands and sends them forth, borne by the winds of heaven or
the wings of birds to cultivated and fallow fields. Thousands of
acres of the richest land in the State are rendered useless by un-
necessary fence-rows. Redeem this land and do away with the
seed beds of many weeds.

7. Do NOT ATTEMPT TOO MUCH. — To use a slang expression, the
average Indiana farmer, each spring, "bites off more than he can
chew." He attempts, single-handed, to tend 60 or 80 acres of corn
and raises more w^eeds than corn-stalks, whereas if he had at-
tempted 30 or at most 40 acres his yield would have been more and
of better quality. The tendency everywhere in the future will be
fewer acres, bigger crops. Intensive farming of small tracts is the
one principal solution of the great question: How shall the earth
feed its people ? Therefore break up no more acres each year than
you can keep clean, and keep at keeping it clean.

8. KEEP THE FARM MACHINERY CLEAN. — A threshing machine
taken from one farm or one locality to another should be thoroughly
cleaned before being set to work. They carry many weed seeds
which are scattered along roadsides and over the fields. They
should also at first be run empty for a few minutes and the seeds
that are caught in the grain box destroyed. Grain sacks from
other farms should be shaken over some receptacle before using.

RULES FOR EXTERMINATING WEEDS. 23

Self binders and grain drills should also be cleaned before using,
as they are apt to carry many weed seeds. Harrows and cultiva-
tors should be examined to see that no bits of the underground
stems of perennial weeds are attached to them. The man with a
clean farm will look after these things, for where comparative
cleanliness has been once secured, ''an ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure. ' '

9. USE SHEEP AS AN AID IN WEED FIGHTING. — There is no more
efficient help in keeping down the weeds on a farm than a flock
of sheep. There are few pasture weeds that they will not keep
grazed down if they can get at them when they are young and on
a freshly cut stubble field, where other forage is scarce, they will
destroy young ragweeds and foxtail by thousands. If turned into
a timothy meadow containing white-top for a few days before the
hay is cut they will eat out the weed and do little damage to the
hay. In a corn-field in early autumn they will destroy many weeds
without injury to the ears. Where annual or biennial weeds are
very plentiful on a tract of land there is no more effective way
of fighting them than by growing two or three crops, such as rye
and millet or rape in a single season and grazing them off with
sheep. It will be necessary to have the tract divided into plots
so that there may be alternation in grazing and growing. Remem-
ber the old saying "all flesh is grass" and modify it to read "some
flesh is weeds," by feeding the sheep upon them.

10. INCREASE THE FERTILIZATION OR DRAINAGE. — Many weeds
are soil indicators, their presence being evidence that the soil is
lacking in fertility or is too wet. Such weeds are most easily con-
trolled by changing the conditions. Thus cinquefoil, mullen and
field sorrel growing together on the slope of some old field proves
conclusively that the soil is half barren and should be improved by
lime and fertilizer. Wet places should be drained to get rid of
such weeds as sedges, spearmint and tickseeds. Proper fertilisa-
tion and the raising of good crops will in many instances cause the
weeds to give way wholly to field crops, as the spread of weeds is
usually much more rapid on half barren lands than on rich ones.
Soiling crops, or those such as rape, peas, soy beans, etc., which are
cut green for feed and partly plowed under, not only aid in fertiliz-
ing the land but smother out many weeds. In Indiana in the past
too much land has been devoted solely to the raising of cereals and
too little to more diversified and partly fertilizing crops. Since the
cereals are almost always wholly removed from the land the re-

24 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

suit has been that much of it has become impoverished and Aveed
ridden, and is therefore cultivated at a minimum profit. Feed the
crops and smother the weeds.

11. TRY SPRAYING FOR SOME WEEDS. — Within recent years it has
been proven that many weeds, especially those with comparatively
broad leaves, such as wild mustard, ox-eye daisy, white-top, horse-
nettle, wild carrot, yarrow, etc., can be practically eradicated from
timothy, wheat, oats and rye and from pastures by the use of
chemical sprays. The success of this method depends largely upon
the fact that cereals and grasses are narrow-leaved plants with a
single seed leaf, whereas the weeds mentioned and many others are
broad-leaved plants with two seed leaves. This fact enables one to
use the chemical for weed killing without much injury to the
cereals or grasses.

The three spray solutions most used and the quantity applied
are: (a) Iron sulphate (copperas) solution, formed by dissolving
100 pounds of copperas in 50 gallons of water and used at the rate
of 50 to 60 gallons per acre A granular form of iron sulphate can
at present be bought for $8 to $10 per ton. (&) Copper sulphate
(blue vitriol) solution, containing 8 to 10 pounds of blue vitriol
dissolved in 50 gallons oP water and applied at the rate of 40 to
50 gallons per acre. The vitriol in barrel lots of 480 pounds costs
5 to 6 cents per pound. (<?) Common salt solution, containing 3
pounds of salt to the gallon of water and used at the rate of 50 to
60 gallons per acre. A barrel of salt, 280-300 pounds, costs about
$1.15.

For spraying large tracts a good spraying machine of consid-
erable force is necessary, while for small areas hand or knapsack
sprays may be used. Both should have good spray nozzles which
will deposit the solution as a fine mist upon the leaves of the weeds.
Special weed-spraying outfits are now on sale in almost any large
city. The following directions, as given by the Wisconsin Experi-
ment Station for spraying oat fields with a solution of iron sulphate
for the killing of wild mustard, will apply to the treatment of al-
most any grain or grass field :

"The spraying should be done on a calm, bright day. after the dew
has disappeared, as the work is more effective if the solution is put on in
the warm sunlight. When rain follows the spraying within a few hours
tho extermination of the mustard will not be complete.

The grain fields should be sprayed when the mustard plants, are in the
third leaf, or before the plants are in blossom, in order to have the spray
do the most effective work. The day following the spraying the tips of

BIRDS AS WEED SEED DESTROYERS. 25

the blades of the grain may Ixe somewhat blackened but no detrimental
effects can l>e noticed, either to the crop or grasses seeded with it, two
weeks after spraying.

Daisies, rocklebur, bindweed, ragweed, chicory, sheep sorrel, yellow
dock, wild lettuce and many other weeds were partially or wholly eradi-
cated from the tields where tests were made for the extermination of
mustard."

In Ohio Sclby lias found the common salt solution best for
dandelions, Canada thistle, poison ivy and horse nettle, and either
the iron sulphate or salt solution effective on timothy meadow
weeds such as wild mustard, white-top, yarrow, etc. The copper
sulphate solution is poisonous to stock and should therefore not be
used in pastures. The use of sprays for weed killing has not yet
passed the experimental stage, but enough has been done to prove
its effectiveness on the worst weeds of meadows, pastures and road-
sides.

The application of salt, coal-oil or some acid to the roots of
perennial weeds immediately after they have been cut close with
scythe or hoe has proven effective in many instances. In pastures,
where salt alone should be used, the stock often aid materially in
keeping down the weeds, by attempting to secure the "salt from
about the roots.

12. PROTECT THE SEFD-EATINU BIRDS. — Were it not for the aid
given him by seed-eating birds the subjugation of many of our
worst weeds would be for man a hopeless task. Each fall and
winter they flock by thousands to the farms and gardens and live
upon the ripened seeds of weeds. The birds which are most bene-
ficial as seed eaters are the sparrows and finches of the family
Fringillida?, 38 of which are known to occur in Indiana, 17 of them
being found here in winter. The chief character which distinguishes
this family is a thick, cone-shaped bill which is shorter than the
head and abruptly angulated or drawn down at the corners of the
mouth. With this they can crack the hard outer shell of most of
the smaller seeds and feed upon the rich nutritious kernels within.

Two of the most common and most beneficial of the sparrows
which winter with us are the tree sparrow and the junco or snow-
bird. These two nest far up in British America but arrive in
numbers from the north about mid-October and remain till April
1st or later. They live almost wholly upon the seeds of such
annual weeds as foxtail, ragweed, smartweed, bindweed, crab-
grass and pigweed. Prof. F. L. Real of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture examined the stomachs of many tree sparrows, finding

26

THE INDIANA AVEED BOOK.

them entirely filled with weed seeds. He
estimated that each bird consumed at least a
quarter of an ounce of such seed daily. Mak-
ing a fair allowance for the number of tree
sparrows to the square mile, lie calculated
that in the State of Iowa the tree sparrow
alone destroys each winter about 1,750,000
pounds or 875 tons of weed seeds. In the
stomach of a single one of these birds was
found at one time 700 seeds of foxtail.

All the sparrows deserve the especial pro-
tection of the farmer as they feed not only
upon weed seeds in autumn, winter and early
spring, but destroy many forms of noxious in-
sects in summer. Among the most numerous
and beneficial of the sparrows in Indiana be-
sides the two mentioned are the goldfinch or
thistle bird, the field, fox and song sparrows,
the chewink and cardinal or redbird, the
white crowned, white throated and chipping
sparrows, the dickcissel, grasshopper sparrow
and lark finch and the bay-winged and indigo
buntings.

In addition to the sparrows the chief seed eating birds occur-
ring in the State are the mourning dove, quail, blackbirds, bobo-
link, cowbird and horned and meadow larks. Some of these feed
largely upon grain as well as weed seeds, but the good that they
do far outweighs the bad. No less than 50 different kinds of birds
act as seed destroyers. During cold weather they require an
abundance of food to keep their bodies warm, and it is the habit
of the sparrows that then flock to the weed patches to keep their
stomachs and gullets heaping full. In time of deep snows, when
the weeds are covered, many of them starve and then especially
can the farmer reward and protect them by scattering wheat and
other grain where they can easily find it.

13. MAINTAIN THE CLEANLINESS. — After a farm has once been
comparatively cleared of weeds it should be kept in that condition.
With the proper care this can be done with little labor and small
cost. Meadows and grain fields should be gone over just before
the grass or grain is ripe and all weeds such as white-top, dock,
buckhorn, corn cockle, etc.. pulled or cut with hoe or spud. This
work should be thoroughly done so as to prevent any seeds from

Fig. 6. Weed seeds commonly
eaten by bird?: a, bindweed;
6, lamb's quarters; c, purslane;
d, pigweed; e, spotted spurge;
/, ragweed; g, foxtail; h, dande-
lion. (After Judd.)

IMPORTANT PROBLEMS WHICH WEEDS MUST SOLVE. 27

ripening. If the grain fields have been seeded down to grass or
clover they should be gone over a second time in September and
any visible weeds removed. If fall cultivation is to be done this
will not be necessary. Permanent pastures, fence-rows, borders of
woodlands, roadsides and other uncultivated tracts should also be
carefully looked after in late summer to prevent seeds from ma-
turing. When a farm has once become fairly clean a farm hand
should be able to go over it with hoe or spud at the rate of 10 acres
a day. If the hand receives $1.50 per day and goes over a 100 acre
farm twice each year, the entire cost of keeping the weeds in sub-
jection will not be over $30 to $40 per annum. With short rota-
tion of crops the whole; farm will not have to be gone over twice, as
the necessary cultivation, if properly done, will take care of the
weeds in certain fields. The cost of maintaining cleanliness de-
pends altogether on how thoroughly the work is done. If done
properly both work and cost will decrease rapidly from year to
year.

14. STUDY THE WEEDS. — No person can successfully fight weeds
or anything else Avithout knowing the nature of that which he is
lighting. Strive to learn thoroughly their methods of growth and
ways of spreading. After these are known any weed on a farm
can be controlled if fought constantly and in the proper manner.
Remember that the weed itself has many problems to solve, many
enemies to avoid. Before it can have fulfilled its mission on earth
—that of producing another weed like itself — the seed whence it
sprung must have escaped the attacks of birds, mice and other
enemies, else it would never have become a weed. The young
shoot must have escaped the hoe or scythe, the jaws of grub or
locust, the maw or hoof of cattle or horse. The flowers must have
opened and secured their fertilization; the fruit must have set and
ripened the seeds. They in their turn must have been scattered far
and wide to proper soil and place of growth. If the weed fails,
no matter how little, in any one of these things it is lost. Its chance
of reproducing its kind is gone. Take advantage of some one of
these problems which the weed has to solve and prevent its solu-
tion. Know the weeds first, then knock them out,

15. MAKE BOTANY A COMMON SCHOOL STUDY. — The chief busi-
ness of the farmer is to raise cultivated plants, with the leaves, the
seeds or the roots of which he feeds himself and the world. True
he feeds part of them to animals but — "all flesh is grass." The
plant must ever precede the animal and gather from the soil for
the latter the food and store from the sun for it the energy neces-

28 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

*

sary to its existence. Yes, farmers grow plants, but how many of
them know the parts of a flower, the duties of each part? How
many of them can take a book and determine for themselves the
name and place of a new plant which has appeared on their farms
and so know whether it is harmless or- aggressive? Our most
noxious, our vilest weeds can now never be wholly eradicated, but
can only be subjugated and kept in partial control. They are here
and here to stay. Had the farmers of the past known their real
character and recognized the plants on their first appearance they
would have postponed all other business until they were destroyed.
As it is, the farmers of the future must wage an eternal warfare
against them, for they have secured a foothold which cannot be
entirely overcome. True, a new species possessing characters which
will enable it to crowd them out may, in time, appear, but such a
change would very likely be for the worst.

There was a time when but one, two or a dozen plants of each
of these foreign weeds existed in the State. Then was the time to
have successfully quarantined that species by destroying those
pioneers. The few persons on whose land they appeared neglected
them, and every gardener, every farmer, yea, every land owner in
the State most henceforth, now and forever, pay the penalty for
that neglect by continued hoeing, plowing and mowing to keep these
alien weeds in subjugation. As long as the rudiments of botany
are not taught in the common schools the average farmer will be
unable to tell whether a new plant which has made its appearance
upon his land should be allowed to grow or not; in fact, in many
instances he will not know that a new plant is there until it be-
comes too abundant to be easily overcome. Put a high school into
each township in the State; teach the elements of botany therein
and then, and not till then, may we hope that the farmers of the
future will be on the lookout for all new plants; will be able at
once to judge their relative injuriousness, and will destroy, before
they have time to ripen their seeds, those species which, if allowed
to spread, will become a curse to the State.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF WEEDS.

A number of our most noxious weeds possess valuable medicinal
properties and have been used for centuries in the manufacture of
drugs. Although the weeds so used were most of them introduced
from Europe and the American farmer has had to fight some of
them for nearly four hundred years, he has not been thrifty
enough to gather them for the drug trade. In Europe, where

SOME WEEDS USED IN MEDICINE. 20

everything that can be turned into an honest penny is put to ac-
count, these weeds are gathered in large quantities and to the value
of hundreds of thousands of dollars, are shipped to America each
year. Here the same weeds are allowed to encumber the farm and
impoverish the farmer, whereas they might be made sources of
profit.

Among the more common weeds growing in Indiana which, for
drug purposes have a value sufficient to justify their gathering are
the couch-grass, curled and broad-leaved docks, black mustard,
pokeweed, wormseed, poison hemlock, pleurisy root, silkweed, In-
dian tobacco, catnip, mullen, two kinds of jimson-weeds. dande-
lion, bonesct, white snakeroot, horse-weed or fleabane, elecampane,
tansy, burdock and yarrow. Many a dollar can be earned by farm
boys and girls in gathering and properly preparing the parts of
these weeds used in medicine. Markets for them will be found at
Madison, Terre Haute, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and
other cities where buyers of roots and herbs are in business. Sulzer
Bros., of Madison, who are the largest dealers in roots and herbs
in the State, bought in 1911, 114,000 pounds of the medicinal parts
of the above weeds, paying therefor about $3,600. The price paid
for them is not large but the collecting can mostly be done in late
summer at a time when farm work is not pressing. The small in-
come thus derived will be so much gained while the farm is at the
same time being cleared of the weeds. Under the name of the
weed, in the list which follows, the part used of each of those above
mentioned is given in proper order, and brief directions are also
given for its collecting and curing. In general it may be said that
whatever the parts gathered, they should be thoroughly dried in
the shade on clean floors, racks or shelves, being spread out thinly
and turned frequently. If dried out of doors they should be pro-
tected from dew at night and at all times from rain. Roots should
be throughly cleaned, washed and, if too large, sliced. Much care
should be taken to have all parts free from foreign matter, espe-
cially earth and fragments of other plants, and the leaves and
stems, when dry, should retain their bright gre?n color.

When ready for sale the name of the nearest dealer should be
obtained and a few ounces of each part, properly labeled, sent him
as a sample. State the amount on hand and how soon it can be
supplied. In shipping, the crude drugs should be tightly packed
in clean dry barrels or gunny sacks, and plainly marked or tagged,
both with the name of the sender and the person to whom they are
consigned.

30 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

N-VMES OF WEEDS.

The lirst thing that a farmer or other person asks about any
weed which attracts his attention is, "What is its name?" or
' ' What kind of a weed is it ? " Tn other words he wants some
handle to carry it with and if no one can give him one he makes it
for himself. Hence there are many common names for the same
weed, sometimes half a dozen or more in the same community.
This is unfortunate, for one of the most important things in the
warfare against weeds is to know a weed when it is seen and call
it by its true name, that is, the one by which it is most widely
known. In the list of 150 Indiana weeds each one has several of
these common names given after the scientific name, the one in
most general use being first mentioned.

Each weed is known to botanists by one and the same scientific
name and it would be well For the farmer to learn these and then
there would be no mistake about the weed he has in mind, provided
he has it correctly identified. Each scientific name is made up of
two Latin words, the first one, always begun with a capital letter,
corresponding to the surname of a man and the second one, be-
ginning with a small letter, to his given name. Thus the scientific
name of the common yellow or curled dock is Rumcx crisp us L. in
which the second name, cmp«y, corresponds to the given name, as
"John" or "'Charles," and the first, Rnmex, to the sur- or family
name, as "Smith" or "Jones." The scientific name is therefore
of the same nature as that given a man but is in Latin and is writ-
ten backward, as Smith John. There may be any number of kinds
of Rumcx or docks, but there can only be one of them named
crispus, just as in the same family we find but one John. The sur-
name of the man who first describes a plant or weed and gives it a
Latin name is always associated with it. Thus the L. after the
name Rumcx crispus L. is the abbreviation for Linnreus who was
the first botanist to give scientific names to plants and who gavo
the Latin names to the most of our worst weeds.

The first part of a scientific name, as Rumex, is called the gen-
eric name, a genus being a group of kinds or species of plants which
are alike in a number of characters. In this case it includes all
true docks. The second name, crispus, is the specific name and
always refers to the one kind of dock which, wherever it is found,
has certain characters distinguishing it from all other kinds of
Rumex. When one has learned to know well any one individual
plant of a certain weed he is therefore also acquainted with all

TIIK ROOTS OF WEEDS. H

other individuals of the same species. The generic and specific
names given to a plant or animal usually have some well defined
meaning, Eumcx in the case mentioned meaning "a spear." from
the shape1 of the leaves of the little sour dock or field sorrel, while
crispu? refers to the curled or wavy margins of the leaves of the
curled dock which bears the name.

PARTS OP A WEED.

In order that the farmer or other person may he able to distin-
guish from the descriptions given any one of the 150 weeds listed
it will be necessary for him to know the names, structure and uses
of a few of the principal and more prominent parts of a weed. As
all of our weeds are constructed on the same general plan the parts
of one will serve to illustrate the others with only certain differences
in some particulars. Let us take, therefore, the corn cockle which
is a common weed in wheat fields and examine carefully its differ-
ent organs and the uses to which they are put.

If an entire specimen of corn cockle be pulled up after it has
been in blossom for some time it will be seen to have five general
parts or divisions Avhich are well known to all farmers, These are
roots, stem, leaves, flowers and fruit or "seed pods," and they will
be considered in the order mentioned.

THE ROOTS OF WEEDS. — Roots of weeds vary greatly in form,
size, length of life, etc. They grow downward or spread out below
the surface thus avoiding the light. Their chief duties are to sup-
port the plant in position and to gather for it moisture and food
from the soil. As already noted, the roots of annual plants like the
cockle live for but a single year. They are for the most part fibrous
and spreading, and annual weeds can usually be easily pulled by
hand. The roots of both annuals and perennials are usually greatly
divided in order to secure a firm hold upon the earth and to have
as large an absorbing surface as possible in contact with the soil.
In most weeds all the nourishment, except carbonic acid gas, comes
from the soil and must be in liquid form before it can be taken up
by the little hairs which are found in numbers upon the smaller
divisions of the roots. The plant foods such as potash, phosphorus,
nitrates, silica, etc., before they can be absorbed by these root
hairs must therefore be dissolved in the moisture of the soil, just
as we dissolve crystals of sugar or salt in water. Some roots, as
those of clover and most plants of the pea family, produce small

32

THE TNDIAXA WEED BOOK.

Fig. 7. Fibrous roots of red clover showing the
nitrogen storing nodules. (After Piper.)

nodules caused by bacteria,
(Fig. 7.) These bacteria have
the power to fix the free nitro-
gen of the air and develop ni-
trogen salts. The clover plant
uses part of these nitrogen
salts as food and leaves some
of them in the ground. Weeds
of the pea family are thus to
some degree beneficial in that
they help enrich the soil.

The roots of most biennial
weeds, as well as those of some
perennials, are often thick or
fleshy, being composed largely
of starch which has been stored
to be used in giving the flower
stems of the second or succeed-
ing year nourishment for a
quick growth in spring. Such

weeds often have one large central tap-root extending straight
downward, with a few siualler roots branching from its sides. The
roots of a weed extend downward or outward in search of a suf-
ficient supply of moisture; if this be lacking the weed, like all other
plants, ceases growth, shrivels and in time dies.

THE STEMS OF WEEDS. — The stem is the main axis of the plant
and is supposed to bear the roots below ground and the leaves and
flowers above. Most stems of weeds are more or less branched,
some of them very much so; if not at all branched they are called
simple. If the stem dies down to the ground each year the plant
is called an herb, or it' it twines, an herbaceous vine. Almost all
weeds are herbs. Stems with a woody texture which survive the
winter above ground are woody vines, shrubs or trees. One shrub
and two woody vines are included in the list of Indiana weeds, viz.,
the blackberry, poison ivy and trumpet-creeper, while the common
elder might with propriety also have been included.

In structure stems of weeds and other flowering plants are di-
vided into two great classes. Tn one class, called cndogens, or in-
side growers, the woody or vascular tissue is usually scattered in
bundles through the stem, and there is no visible distinction of
bark, wood, etc. By cutting across the stem of a dry cornstalk one
can readily find these bundles running like fibres lengthwise

THE LEAVES OE WEEDS. 33

through the pith. Only a few of our weeds belonging to the grass,
sedge, lily and rush families have steins of this kind. In the other
class called c.r<>cj< nx, or outside growers, the stein is composed of
distinct layers which surround one another in circles, and are
usually known as bark, wood and pith. All our weeds except those
of the four families above mentioned belong to this class.

The direction of growth of the stem is an important distinguish-
ing character of weeds. If, like the com cockle, it stands upright
it is said to be erect ; if arising obliquely from a prostrate base it
is called ascending. Stems which grow along the ground without
rooting are prostrate (purslane) or trailing (ground ivy). The
stems of some weeds, as the plantain and dandelion, are very short,
the leafless flower-stalk springing from the midst of a clump of
basal or so-called root-leaves. Such a flower-stalk is called a scape.

Some perennial weeds produce both ordinary erect and creep-
ing underground stems, the latter being called root stocks or
rhizomes. They may be known from true roots by their bearing
buds at short intervals. When the conditions are favorable these
buds produce erect above-ground stems. Such perennials are the
most difficult of all weeds to eradicate. The sterns of some weeds,
as the cinquefoil, produce above ground and near the base runners
or offsets which take root and form new plants.

THE LEAVES OF WEEDS. — Leaves are among the most important
parts of a weed, as it is in their cells that all the food of the plant
is assimilated or fitted for growth and for forming the flowers and
seeds. It is the leaf also which has the sole power of absorbing
carbonic acid gas from the air and by the aid of the sun's heat
and light, in the presence of the green coloring matter (chloro-
phyll), changing it into starch, this being used in forming other
tissues such as wood or seeds or tubers. In these tissues the energy
from the sun's heat and light is stored and when the tissues are
burned or used as food by animals the energy is set free and can be
controlled by man. Most of the energy used by man and animals
in performing the work of the world was at one time thus gathered
by leaves and stored in the roots or stems or fruits of plants.
Leaves are the principal organs of respiration or breathing which
the weed possesses. It is through them also that the excess of water
gathered by the roots passes off. Constituting as they thus do the
organs of digestion, breathing and transpiration or sweating, it is
very plain that if one can prevent a weed from producing leaves it
will soon die.

The broad expanded part of a leaf is called the Made and the

[3]

34

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

narrower portion by which it is joined to the stem or branch is the
stalk or petiole. Leaves which have no stalks, the blades being
joined by one end directly to the stein, are sessile. In position on
the stem they are opposite or in pairs as in the corn cockle ; alter-
nate or scattered singly along the stem, one above another on op-
posite sides, as in the mullen. or whorled if three or more come off
in a circle at the same level.

In shape the leaves of weeds vary greatly, some of the forms
being ovate or egg-shaped; lanceolate, narrower and more elongate
than ovate and tapering to a point like a lance; cordate or heart-
shaped; reniform or kidney-shaped, that is heart-shaped at base
but broader than long and not pointed; hastate or halberd-shaped.

H

Fig. 8. Showing forms of leaves: a, ovate; b, cordate or heart-shaped; c, sagittate or arrow-shaped'
d, hastate; e, reniform or kidney-shaped; /.rounded or orbicular; g. spatulate or spoon-shaped; h, oblong and
obtuse; i, linear; ;', lanceolate; k, 3-parted or 3-divided; /, with apex notched or emarginate. (After Gray.)

with the lobes at base pointed outward ; oblong or narrowly ovate
and usually dull at tip: spatulate or spoon-shaped, that is broader
toward the apex; orbicular or rounded, and linear or long and nar-
row as those of the com cockle. The linear leaves of endogens like
grasses, sedges and lilies have only long straight parallel veins,
while those of exogens have netted veins which interlace and run
together so as to form a network. (Fig. 15 I), d.}

The edge or border of the leaf is either entire or variously
toothed, lobed or deeply parted. When the lobes are divided clear
to the midrib or the main vein at center, the leaf is said to be
compound, otherwise it is simple. Each of the leaflets or divisions
of a compound leaf may be divided into segments and these again

THE FLOWERS OF WEEDS.

35

subdivided, as in the dissected leaves of yarrow, dog-fennel, etc.
The tip of a leaf may be acute or pointed, acuminate or longer
pointed, obtuse or dull, emarginate or notched, etc. Both leaves
and stems may be clothed with hairs, as in the corn cockle, or
glabrous, without hairs. The hairs, when present, differ greatly in
length, stiffness, abundance, etc., in the various weeds.

The leaves of many weeds bear on the stalk near the base a
pair of leaf-like expansions called stipules (Fig. 15, r/), which are
usually green but often colorless. The margins of sessile leaves
may sometimes extend down along the stem as in mullen. Such
leaves are said to be decurrent and the stem winged. Bracts, scales,
glumes, etc.. are only leaves reduced in size which are mainly used
to protect the flowers. The seed leaves or cotyledons; are small

Fig. 9. Illustrating the parts of a flower: a, flower of poppy showing the 4 sets cf flora! organs, viz., k, the
srpals, together called the calyx; c, the petals, together called the corolla; a, the numerous stamens; g, the 2 pis-
i'i s which contain the ovjles. 6, Flower of cinquefoil showing 3 broad sepals, 2 smaller petals alternating with
th?m, a gro.ip of stamens, and a large receptacle bearing numerous small pistils, c, Butterfly-shaped flower of
sweet pea; d, same spread to show the part?; s, the standard, w, the wings, k, the keel. (After Strasburger and
Gray.)

leaves which exist in all seeds. In some plants, as the squash and
beech-nut, they arise above the ground when the seed sprouts.
Endogens have but one seed leaf while all exogens have two.

THE FLOWERS OF A WEED. — The flower is that part of a plant
whose chief duty it is to produce seeds or the young of future
plants. A complete flower consists of the floral envelope, (Fig. 9,
a;, or calyx and corolla, and the essential or sexual organs, the
stamens and pistils. Tf any one of these four divisions of a flower
is absent it is said to be incomplete. The calyx or outer floral en-
velope is composed of several modified leaves called sepals which
are usually green in color, and arranged in a circle so as to cover
and protect all the other parts of the flower when in bud. In the
corn cockle the lower parts of all 5 sepals have their edges united
so as to form a tube, while the upper part of each sepal is separate.

36

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

elongated and pointed. In the calyx of many weeds the sepals
are wholly separate and distinct one from another. In the different
weeds they also vary greatly in shape, size and degree of union, so
that the calyx may be shaped like a cup, bell, saucer, urn, tube and
many other objects. In some weeds the calyx is colored like the
corolla while in some it is wholly lacking. However, if but one
set of floral envelopes is present it is the calyx, whatever its color,
and the flower is said to be apetalous; while if both calyx and
corolla are absent the flower is naked.

The inner floral envelope when present is called the corolla.
It is also made up of several leaf-like parts arranged in a whorl
or circle and called petals. The petals are usually brightly colored
and larger than the sepals. They also vary greatly in the different
weeds in number, form, size, color and degree of union one with

Fig. 10. Illustrating forms of corollas: a, polypetalous flower of bouncing bet showing the 5 petals with long
claws or stalk-like bases; b, gamopetalous bell-shaped corolla of bell-flower; c, salver-shaped corolla of phlox;
d. wheel-shaped corolla of nightshade; e, same of potato, the lobes less divided; /, funnel-form corolla of morning-
glory; g, strap-shaped corolla of a Composite. (After Gray.)

another. In the corn cockle the petals are 5, purple-red, separate,
broader and slightly notched above and narrowed into wedge-like
claws below. When the petals are wholly distinct one from another
the corolla is said to be polypetalous; when more or less united,
gamopetalous. If the petals arc all alike, as in the cockle, the
corolla is regular; if one or more of them differ in size or shape
as they do in many weeds, especially those of the pea and mint
families, the corolla is irregular.

The form of the corolla varies much and, like that of the calyx,
is often described as being bell-, funnel-, wheel-, tube-, or other-
wise shaped. In the weeds of the bell-flower, mint and figwort
families the corolla is more or less two-Upped, the petals being so
united that two of them form an upper or overhanging portion,
while the other three form the lower lip. In the dandelion, ox-eye
daisy, dog-fennel and other weeds of the Chicory and Composite

STAMENS AND THEIR WORK.

37

families some or all of the small tubular corollas appear as if
split part way down on one side and then flattened. Such a corolla
is said to be ligulate or strap-shaped, the split portion being called
a ray.

The corolla is often wrongly called the "flower." This is be-
cause it is usually the showy or attractive part to humans. How-
ever, it was not made handsome to attract man but insects, so as
to bring about a better pollination or cross fertilization of the es-
sential organs. It also serves to sonic extent to protect those or-
gans in the bud. In endogens the sepals and petals are, when pres-
ent, 3 each in number and often colored alike to form what is
known as the perianth.

The duty of the stamens, or outer set of essential organs of a

Fig. 11. Ilhstrating stamens and pollen grains: a, stamen of henbane, /, filament, p, anther; b, flower of
mallow with calyx and corolla cut away, showing the monodelphous stamens united in a column around the styles;
c, stamens of pea in two groups (diadelphous) 9 and 1; d, stamen with versatile anther as in grasses and evening-
primrose; e, stamen of horss nettle, the pollen escaping by terminal pores; /, stamens of a Composite showing
the anthers united in a tube: g, s^me with tube split and spread out; h, a 3-lobed pollen grain of evening-prim-
rose; i, a pair of pollen masses of a milkweed flower attached by stalks to a gland. (After Gray.)

flower when both are present, is to produce pollen grains or spores.
These grains are the male or fertilizing agents of the flower. A
stamen usually consists of a stalk or filament and an anther, the
latter being made up of 2 sacs or cells in which the pollen is
formed and held until it is ready for use. When the pollen is ripe
the sacs open by slits or pores and the pollen is scattered by the
wind, insects or other agencies. The stamens vary greatly in num-
ber, length of filament, form of anther, degree of union one with
another, and mode of insertion or connection with other parts of
the flower. All of the filaments may be joined together as is the
case in the velvet leaf and other weeds of the mallow family, or
they may be united in sets as in the St. Johnswort and many plants
of the pea family. In the weeds of the Composite family the an-
thers are united to form a ring about the style.

38

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

In a number of weeds, as the common ragweed and field sorrel,
the stamens and pistils are borne in separate flowers. Those flow-
ers with stamens only are called staminate or sterile flowers,
whether the calyx or corolla be present or not, while those with
pistils only are pistillate or fertile flowers. In the ragAveed these
two kinds of flowers are borne on the same plant and when so
borne the plant is said to be monoecious (of one household). In
the field sorrel they are on separate plants and in this and similar
cases the weed is called dioecious (of two households). If both sta-
mens and pistils are absent, as in the ray flowers of some Com-
posite weeds, the flowers are neutral. In the corn cockle the sta-
mens are 10 in number, separate, and borne on the stalk of the

Fig. 12. Showing forms of pistils and ovaries: a, b and c, simple pistils; a, pistil of a single leaf, the ovary
cut across with the ovules borne on the centra) suture; b, pistil of marsh marigold which has opened and shed its
seeds; c, 3 simple pistils of one flower; d-i, compound pistils; d, of common St. Johnswort, showing the three
separate styles and 3 cells of ovary; e, of shrubby St. Johnswort, showing the styles united, but the cells the
same; /, of spiderwort showing the 3 cells each with a s;ngle ovule; g and h, of chickweed showing 3 styles, 1 cell
and ovules on a central column; t, a pistil showing the ovary, /, the style, g, and the stigma, n. (After Gray.)

ovary, and the anthers open by lengthwise valves to discharge the
pollen.

The pistils, or female parts of the flower, which produce the
young or unfertilized seeds called ovules, form the innermost set
of the essential organs. In number the pistils vary greatly ac-
cording to the species of plant. The flowers of some plants, as those
of the pea or clover, have a single simple pistil, while a buttercup
has many. Such simple pistils consist of a single modified leaf, the
carpel, folded together and containing one or many ovules. A
compound pistil, as that of the corn cockle, consists of two or more
carpels joined together. Each pistil is made up of two or tliree
parts. The two parts always present are the ovary or enlarged
part at base which contains the ovules, and the stigma which IF

DISTILS AND THEIR PARTS. 39

Viscid or sticky so as to catch the pollen grains. Sometimes the
stigma is borne directly on the ovary but more often it is at the top
or oil the side of a slender stalk called the style, which is an elonga-
tion of the upper part of the ovary, in corn the styles are very
long and form the so-called "silk."

The ovary of a simple pistil when removed and cut crosswise is
seen to have but a single cell or cavity to contain the ovules, while
that of a compound pistil may have a number of cells, their par-
tition walls being formed by the carpels which compose the ovary.
The number of these carpels can usually be told by the number of
styles or stigmas present. In the corn cockle there is one com-
pound pistil with 5 styles, a stigma being attached along the in-
side of each, so that 5 carpels were united to form the pistil.
When cut crosswise the ovary is seen to be only 1-celled, the car-
pels not having formed complete partitions or walls though traces
of such walls are seen at the base. The ovules are many and are
joined to a central column which extends from the bottom to near
the top of the ovary. The ovules of different weeds are arranged
in the cells in different ways, sometimes being joined to one or
more seams (placentae) on the sides of the cell and sometimes at-
tached to a central column as in the cockle. If single they may
be attached at base to the bottom of the cell.

The number of cells in the ovary is used as a very important
character in distinguishing the families of plants and can usually
be readily determined by carefully removing the ovary, cutting it
crosswise with a sharp knife and then gently squeezing the ovules
from one of the halves. By looking closely with a lens the number
of small cavities can then be easily counted. (Fig. 12, d, e, /.) It
is also important to know whether the ovary is in any way united
to the calyx or not. In the corn cockle the two are wholly sepa-
rate, the ovary being above the calyx, and when so placed it is
said to be superior or free. In the evening primrose and many
other weeds the calyx is partly or wholly united to the ovary and
the latter is then said to be inferior.

Within each ovule is a little embryo sac containing a minute
egg or germ. When a pollen grain falls on the sticky stigma it
develops or sends out a very slender tube containing numerous
microscopic sperm or male cells. This finds its way down through
the tube of the style and entering the ovule through a minute open-
ing empties the sperm cells into the embryo sac. One of the sperm
cells unites with the egg and the fertilization of the latter re-
sults. From the fertilized egg the young or embryo plant is pro-

INDIANA \Vl2ED

40

duced within the ovule. The coats of the latter thicken and en-
large and in time form the ripened seed which with the future
weed enclosed is ready to be borne to some new spot where it may
sprout and begin for itself the battle of life.

The manner of inflorescence, or arrangement of the flowers on
the stem, is often an important distinguishing character of weeds.
Flowers are either solitary or clustered. Solitary flowers are either
borne in the axil or angle which the leaf makes where it joins the
stem, when they are said to be axillary and solitary, as in the money-
wort; or are borne on the ends of the stems or branches, when they
are terminal. In the corn cockle the flowers are solitary on the
ends of long axillary peduncles or flower-stalks. If the flower is

Fig. 13. Showing forms of inflorescence: a, spike of plantain; 6, head of Canada thistle, % natural size; c, a
raceme; d, a corymb; e, an umbel; f, a panicle; g, a compound umbel with umbellets. (After Gray.)

without a peduncle or stalk of its own it is said to be sessile. The
end of each stem or peduncle which bears the flower or on which
the different parts rest is the receptacle.

In most weeds the flowers are in clusters on the ends of the
branches or stems, rarely in the axils, as in tumble-weed. In form
the clusters may be: a head where numerous sessile flowers are
bunched closely together on a common receptacle, as in the thistle
or dandelion; a spike in which the flowers are also sessile but ar-
ranged around the sides of a long central axis, as in plantain and
mullen ; a raceme having each flower on its own stalk and arranged
loosely along the sides of a common stalk or central axis, as in
shepherd's purse and moth mullen; a coryml) which is a flat-topped

THE FRUITS OF WEEDS. 41

raceme, the lower peduncles being lengthened to raise their flowers
or heads to the same level as those above, as in yarrow; a cyme
which is only a corymb with all the blossoms from terminal buds,
the one on the main stem opening first, followed by those on the
side shoots, as in chick weed ; an umbel, as in milkweed and wild
onion, where all the flower-stalks seem to arise from a single point
like the ribs of an urnbrella; whence the name.

Compound flower clusters of each of the above kinds are fre-
quent, as the compound umbel of the wild carrot where the stalks
of the first or lower umbel become themselves umbels and bear um-
hcllcls. A compound raceme which branches loosely and irregu-
larly is called a panicle and is seen in oats and most grasses. A
head, umbel or other flower cluster is often surrounded by a whorl
or circle of bracts or small leaves called an involucre. These are
present in the thistle and other Composite as well as in sedges and
many other weeds.

THE FRUITS OF WEEDS. — In botany the word fruit is used to
designate the mature or ripened ovary or seed vessel with the en-
closed seeds, whatever its nature and whether it is edible or not.
It also includes any appendages of the flower which are perma-
nently attached to it, such as the calyx of an apple or the fleshy
receptacle at the center of a blackberry. The fruits of weeds, like
those of other plants, are therefore exceedingly variable in struc-
ture and form.

In general, fruits are either fleshy or dry. Not very many
weeds have fleshy fruits. However the drape or stone-fruit, hav-
ing the outer part fleshy and the inner part hard and stony and
enclosing the seed, is represented in the blackberry, where the little
drupes are massed together around the fleshy receptacle, and also
in the fruit of the poison ivy. The ~bcrry is another form of fleshy
fruit in which the hard coated seeds are enclosed in and directly
surrounded by the fleshy pulp. The fruits of pokeweed, horse
nettle, ground cherry, etc., are therefore true berries. When eaten
by birds and other animals the hard seeds of both drupes and ber-
ries are not digested but are passed with the excrement and thus
gain wide dispersal.

Dry fruits are of two kinds, viz., the indehiscent which do not
open at maturity and the dehiscent which split open, usually along
regular lines, and scatter the seeds. Of the numerous kinds of
indehiscent fruits but throe are commonly met with among weeds.
The achene is a small dry- one-seeded indehiscent fruit often so
seed-like in appearance that it is taken for a naked seed. However

42

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

the acbene always has two scars, one at the base showing where it
was joined to the flower-stalk, and the other at the top where the
style or stigma was united to it, whereas the seed has but one scar
indicating the point Avhere it was joined to the ovary. The ripened
pistils of the buttercups and the so-called seeds of the dandelions,
catnip and hound's tongue are examples of achenes. The utricle
is an achene with a thin loose outer covering, as seen in pigweed,
lamb's quarters, etc. The caryopsis or grain is a dry indehiscent
fruit in which the seed is firmly united with the wall of the ovary,
so that both fruit and seed form one body, as in wheat, corn and
the weeds of the grass family.

The dry dehiscent fruits are also numerous in kind. Among

Fi^. 14. Illustrating forms of fruits: a, single drupe of blackberry split to show pulp, stone and inner seed;
b, a berry: c, pyxis of purslane, the lid upraised; d, utricle of Jamb's quarte-s; e, utricle of pigweed opening all
around; /. achene of buttercup; g, same split lengthwise to show the enclosed seed; h, a follicle; i, silique of a mus-
tard; ;', capsule of a St. Johnswort; k, a pod or legume; I, lament or jointed pod of a tick-trefoil. (After Gray.)

them are the pod of the weeds of the pea family, which splits along
both sides into two valves ; the follicle of the milkweed, which splits
down one side only : the capsule or fruit of a compound ovary,
which usually splits lengthwise into several valves, as in the corn
cockle, but sometimes discharges its seeds through chinks or pores,
as in the velvet leaf, or bursts irregularly as in the lobelia; the
silique of the mustard family, a pod which splits into two valves
leaving a thin partition wall with the seeds attached, and the
pyxis, a pod which opens with a little circular lid as in the plan-
tain and purslane.

The duty of all these different forms of fruit or seed vessels is
to retain and protect the ripened seeds until they are ready for
distribution to fields and pastures new. Of the seed, which is the

HOW TO USE THE FAMILY KEYS. 43

final product of the weed — the one object of its existence — enough
has been said or will be said in the pages which are to follow. Hav-
ing thus described the parts of a weed we see that while they are
numerous they are not difficult to learn. Anyone with a corn
cockle or some other weed by his side can soon learn these parts
so that he should be able, with the aid of the family keys and de-
scriptions which follow, to locate any one of the 150 weeds which
are listed. Only a little time, a little patience, a little labor are
necessary and a knowledge which will open up a new world of value
and of interest will be his.

KEYS TO FAMILIES OF WEEDS.

Weeds which have a number of different characters in common
are grouped into a family by themselves. The 227 species of In-
diana weeds hereafter considered belong to no less than 38 dif-
ferent families. Each of these families has both a common and a
scientific name. Keys or tables leading up to each family have
been prepared. A person by aid of these keys can locate the weed
at hand in its proper family and then, by comparing the descrip-
tions of the weeds grouped under that family heading with the
one in hand, will soon be able to tell whether it is one of the de-
scribed and listed species or not. It must be remembered that
there are other plants, 1,800 and more, growing wild in Indiana
which are not described in this book and it is, therefore, very prob-
able that one of them may be the supposed weed which the per-
son is trying to locate. If so, he may or may not be able to locate
it in the family to wrhich it belongs by the keys given, for those
keys are designed only for the species of weeds listed and there are
many other families of plants besides those including the weeds
which are represented in the State.

How TO USE THE KEY. — Gather a complete specimen of the sup-
posed weed, roots and all. Be sure and get one in flower and if pos-
sible also partly in fruit. Have a pocket lens or magnifying glass,
such as a linen tester, a sharp pocket knife and a long needle at
hand. First examine the leaves and a cross section of the stein to
see whether it is an indogt n or c.rogcn. (Fig. 15.) If an endogen,
go to the "Key to the Families of Endogen Weeds" and compare
carefully the plant with the characters mentioned after a. If it
agrees with these go to /) and compare with the characters there
given; if it do^s not fit them, go to bl) and again compare. If it
fits 1) or bl) go to the family whose name and page are given after
the letter it fits, and read over the family description carefully to

44 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

see that it agrees with the weed in hand. If it did not fit a, go to
aa and compare. If it is an endogen and listed, it belongs either
under a or aa. If it fits aa go to c,, etc.

If the weed is an exogen, turn to the "Key to the Divisions of
Exogens, ' ' and examine the plant for petals to see whether they are
present or not. If not present, go to the "Key to the Families of
Apetalous Exogens" and try that. If the petals are present see
whether they are wholly separate one from another ; if so, go to the
"Key to the Families of Polypetalous Exogens." If they are
more or less united the plant is gamopetalous and the family should
be sought for under the "Key to the Families of Gamopetalous
Exogens." Remember that whenever the plant fits a of a key it
will run to some family whose name is given between a and aa. If

Fig. 15. Illustrating the differences between endogens and exogens: a, cross-section of corn-stalk, the dots
showing the tops of the long strands of woody fibre scattered irregularly through the pith; 6, parallel reined leaf
of an endogen; c, cross-section of stem of an endogen, showing the 4 stem regions, e, the epidermis, c, cortex or
bark, w, the wood, p, the pith; d, netted veined leaf of exogen with stipules at base. (After Coulter and Gray.)

it fits a and 6 it will run to a family between 6 and 66. Whenever
it does not fit a letter go to the double of the same letter, and from
there on down the key, never backward. If it fits the characters
given after a letter, as cy and there is no family name following c
then go to d and so on down the key until a family name occurs
after a letter.

As with the endogens, when it runs to a family name turn to
the page given and compare carefully the weed with the descrip-
tion there given. If the weed agrees with this description then
rea.d the descriptions of the different weeds under that family
until you find one with which your plant agrees. If the family
description does not fit the weed a mistake has more than likely
been made in running it into that family. In a work of this kind,
where the family descriptions and descriptions of species are neces-

KEY TO FAMILIES OF ENDOGtiN WEEDS. 45

sarily brief, it is more than probable that some of the characters
given will not agree with the plant in hand. All plants vary more
or less, no two individuals being exactly alike. If the most of the
more important characters agree it is very probable that the plant
has been correctly traced.

All of the weeds listed belong to the sub-kingdom of plants
known as Spermatophyta or seed-bearing plants in which the pol-
len grains develop into pollen tubes which find their way to embryo
sacs in ovules and there fertilize the germ cells or microscopic eggs,
which remain enclosed in the ovules until they ripen into seeds,
All of them also belong to the class Angiospermce or flowering-
plants in which the ovules are enclosed in an ovary which becomes
the fruit.

KEY TO SUBCLASSES OF ANGIOSPERMJ2.

a. Leaves with parallel veins, mostly alternate, entire, linear or grass-
like and sheathing the stem at hase; stem without distinct layers
of bark, wood and pith ; embryo of the seeds with one seed-leaf,
the first leaves of the sprouting plant alternate; parts of the flowers
usually in 3's or G's. ENDOGENS, p. 45.

aa. Leaves with netted veins ; stems formed of circular rings of bark, wood
and pith ; embryo and young plant with a pair of opposite seed-
leaves ; parts of the flowers rarely in 3's or G's. EXOGENS, p. 40.

KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF ENDOGEN WEEDS.*

a. Ovaries simple, distinct, 1-celled, 1-seeded, formed of a single carpel ;
flowers without sepals or petals, borne in the axils of dry chaffy
scales (glumes) and arranged in spikes or spikelets.

b. Stems (culms) mostly hollow, cylindrical; sheaths split to the base;

glumes in pairs ; fruit a grain. GRASS FAMILY, p. 50.

1)1). Stems solid, often triangular; sheaths closed; glumes single; fruit

an achene. SEDGE FAMILY, p. 57.

aa. Ovaries compound, formed of 2 or more carpels ; flowers complete,

their parts in 3's or G's.

c. Sepals and petals (perianth) green or brown; stems rush-like with

grass-like leaves; flowers small (stamens G and leaves all basal
in our weeds.) RUSH FAMILY, p. 59.

cc. Petals or inner part of the perianth colored ; fruit a 3-celled capsule
splitting down the back of each carpel ; plants mostly springing
from bulbs; our weeds with an onion-like odor.

LILY FAMILY, p. GO.

*The keys as given include only the families to which the weeds hereafter listed belong.

46 THE INDIANA WKF.D BOOK.

KEY TO THE DIVISIONS OF EXOGENS.

a. Petals wholly wanting; calyx present, except in some spurges.

APETALOUS EXOGENS. p. 4(1
aa. Petals and sepals both present.

fc. Petals all separate and distinct one from another, except hi the
pea family where the lower two are often united. (Figs. 9;

10, a.) POLYPETALOUS EXOGENS. ]). 4<>.

T)b. Petals more or less united into one piece. (Fig. 10. b-y.)

GAMOPETALOUS EXOGENS, p. 47.

KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF APETALOUS EXOGEN WEEDS.

«. Fruit an achene, 1-celled, 1 -seeded ; ovary 1 only, superior. (Nettles.

docks, smartweeds, etc.)

&. Herbs with small clustered greenish flowers, and, in our weeds, with
stinging hairs; stipules not forming a circular sheath about
the joints ; achenes compressed, ovate or oblong.

NETTLE FAMILY, p. 61.

II). Herbs without stinging hairs but usually with a sour or very acrid
juice; stipules forming a cylindrical sheath about the joints of
stem ; achenes 3-sided or 3-angled. BUCKWHEAT FAMILY, p. 03.
era. Fruit not an achene; ovary 1 only, superior. (Lamb's quarters, pig-
weeds, pokewiCHl, spurges, etc.)
c. Leaves without milky juice; fruit not 3-seeded.

d. Leaves not in whorls; fruit not a capsule; stem usually erect

e. Fruit a utricle. 1-celled, 1-seeded (Fig. 14. d, c.) ; stipules none.

/. Flowers not surrounded by dry pointed bracts; sepals

green or greenish ; leaves and stems usually white-mealy

or glandular. GOOSEFOOT FAMILY, p. 69.

//. Flowers each surrounded by 3 dry persistent awl-shaped

bracts; sepals brown or colorless; plant not mealy or

glandular. AMARANTH FAMILY, p. 72.

ce. Fruit a fleshy 10-seeded berry ; styles and stamens 10 each ;

ovary 10-celled ; flowers numerous in terminal racemes ;

leaves alternate, entire. POKEWEED FAMILY, p. 75.

(Id. Leaves in whorls of 5's or G's ; stem prostrate, spreading; fruit

a 3-celled capsule. CARPET-WEED FAMILY', p. 76.

rr. Leaves with a milky acrid juice ; staniinate and pistillate flowers

of our weeds separate but on the same plant, the pistillate ones

enclosed by a cup-shaped involucre or a leaf-like bract; fruit

3-seeded. SPURGE FAMILY, p. 91.

KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF POLYPETALOUS EXOGEN WEEDS.

a. Stem leaves opposite, entire.

ft. Leaves not punctuate with pelluci'd and dark dots ; stamens not

over 10, separate; ovules borne on a central column; corolla

not yellow. PINK FAMILY, p. 77.

&&. Leaves and petals with numerous very small round pellucid or dark

. dots; stamens very numerous united in 3 or more sets; ovules

borne on the walls of the ovary ; corolla yellow.

ST. JO?IN'SWORT FAMILY, p. OS.

KEY TO FAMILIES OF EXOGEN WEEDS. 47

aa. Stem leaves of our weeds either alternate or clustered at the ends of
the branches.

c. Stem prostrate, succulent, spreading; leaves mostly clustered at
the ends of the branches ; sepals 2 ; corolla regular, yellow.

PURSLANE FAMILY, p. 7(x
cc. Stem rarely prostrate, or if so not succulent and the sepals

more than 2.
d. Ovary superior or wholly free from the calyx.

c. Stamens numerous, at least more than 10; corolla regular
/. Stamens all separate and distinct; ovaries simple, 1-

celled.

g. Sepals all separate and distinct ; petals and stamens
borne on the receptacle at the base of the ovaries ;
stipules none; our weeds with simple more or less
lobed leaves and yellow corollas.

CROWFOOT FAMILY, p. SO.

rj(j. Sepals more or less united at base; petals and sta-
mens borne on the calyx ; stipules present ; our
weeds with compound, 3-5 foliate leaves and white
or yellow corollas. ROSE FAMILY, p. 85.

//. Stamens all united in a column and connected at base
with the short claws of the petals (Fig. 11, ft.) ;
ovaries compound, several celled, often united in a
ring. MALLOW FAMILY, p. 95.

ec. Stamens not more than 10.

h. Petals 4; stamens (I, 4 long. 2 short, rarely only 2;
fruit a silique; herbs with a pungent watery juice.

MUSTARD FAMILY, p. 81.
hli. Petals 5, the lower 2 often more or less united; stamens

never (> or 2 ; fruit not a silique.

i. Herbs ; fruit a legume or pod ; flowers mostly irreg-
ular and shaped like those of a pea (regular in
Cassia or wild senna ) . PEA FAMILY, p. 88.

ii. Shrubs or woody vines; fruit a small drupe; flowers
regular; our included species with milky poisonous
sap. SUMAC FAMILY, p. 94.

dd. Ovary inferior or partly or wholly united with the calyx.
./. Flowers not in umbels, yellow, nocturnal; leaves simple;
stamens in our weeds 8 ; ovules numerous in each cell
of the ova ry. E VENT NG-PRT M ROSE FA M ILY, p. 99.

jj. Flowers in umbels, white or yellow, diurnal ; leaves in our
weeds, compound; stamens 5; ovules 1 in each cell of
ovary. PARSLEY FAMILY, p. 100.

KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF GAMOPETALOUS EXOGEN WEEDS.

a. Ovary superior or wholly free from the calyx.

1). Corolla not thin dry and colorless ; leaves not all basal ; flowers

not in spikes on leafless flower stalks.

c. Herbs with milky juice; leaves mostly opposite; fruit a follicle;
seeds bearing a long tuft of white hairs; ovaries 2, separate.

48 THE INDIANA WKED BOOK.

(/. Stamens distinct; pollen in ordinary grains; follicles very slen-
der, cylindrical, pointed. DOGBANE FAMILY, p. 104.
dd. Stamens united by their filaments to form a tube; polle.i
grains united into waxy masses; follicles robust.

MILKWEED FAMILY, p. 105.

re. Stems and leaves without milky juice; fruit not a follicle; seeds
without tufts of hairs; leaves opposite or alternate; ovary 1,
compound.
c. Corolla regular (slightly irregular in blueweed of the Borage

Family).
/. Ovary not deeply 4-lobed ; fruits not separating as 1-seeded

nutlets when rrpe.

g. Stamens 5; flowers not in terminal spikes; leaves alter-
nate.
li. Twining or trailing vines; fruit not a berry or a large

prickly capsule.

i. Steins white or yellowish, leafless, twining, para-
sitic vines. DODDER FAMILY, p. 110.
ii. Stems green, leaf-bearing vines ; flowers of our
weeds large, funnel-form or bell-shaped.

MORNING -GLORY FAMILY, p. 107.

lilt. Erect and branching herbs, not vines; fruit a berry
or a large prickly capsule ; corolla either bell- or
wheel-shaped, or large funnel-form and ill-smelling.

POTATO FAMILY, p. 124.

y<j. Stamens 4, 2 long, 2 short ; flowers of our weeds white

or blue in erect spikes terminating the stems or

branches ; leaves opposite. VERVAIN FAMILY, p. 115.

//. Ovary deeply 4-lobed around the style ; fruit separating as

nutlets, those in our weeds mostly armed with barbed

prickles; leaves and stems rough hairy.

BORAGE FAMILY, p. 112.

ec. Corolla irregular, more or less 2-lipped (nearly regular in the
nmllens and true mints of the Figwort and Mint Families).
j. Ovary 4-lobed around the style, the lobes ripening into
smooth 1-seeded nutlets ; stem 4-sided ; leaves simple, op-
posite, when crushed emitting an aromatic odor.

MINT FAMILY, p. 117.
jj. Ovary 2-celled ; fruit a many-seeded capsule: stems rarely

4-sided ; leaves mostly alternate, not aromatic.
k. Herbs with rather small flowers; stamens mostly 2 or 4
(5 in the mullens) ; seeds borne on a central axis, not
winged. FIGWORT FAMILY, p. 129.

kk. Woody vines with large trumpet-shaped orange flowers ;
stamens 5; fruit a long pod-like capsule; seeds borne
on the margins of the partition separating its cells,
winged. TRUMPET-CREEPER FAMILY, p. l.°,4.

W). Corolla thin, dry and membranous, withering on the pod; leaves
of our weeds all basal ; flowers in dense spikes on slender leaf-
less flower stalks. PLANTAIN FAMILY, p. 135.

KEY TO FAMILIES OF EXOUEN WEEDS. 40

. Ovary inferior or more or less united with the calyx.
/. Flowers not closely bunched into a head which is surrounded by i
leafy involucre; those of our weeds mostly 2-lipped, blue or
bluish ; steins with an acrid and usually milky juice.

BELL-FLOWER FAMILY, p. 140.

//. Flowers closely bunched into a head surrounded by a leafy in-
volucre.

in. Flowers of head all ligulate or split into flat rays (Fig. 10, <j.},
mostly yellow; juice of steins and leaves milky.

CHICORY FAMILY, p. 142.
nun. Flowers all tubular or only the outer ones of the head with

rays ; juice not. or rarely milky.
n. Stamens not united by their anthers into a ring or tub«

around the style.

o. Leaves all opposite, their ribs and the flower-stalks'
prickly; heads very large, oblong-cylindr:-.:al, with nu-
merous long spiny-tipped awns; flowers all perfect.

TEASEL FAMILY, p. 1139.

oo. Leaves alternate, mostly divided or lobed, not prickly ;
stamiuate and pistillate flowers of our weeds in sepa-
rate heads on the same plant, the latter without a
corolla. RAGWEED FAMILY, p. 149.

nn. Stamens united by their anthers into a tube or ring about
the style ; fruit or so-called seed an achene, usually bear-
ing a tuft of hairs or several awns. (Figs. 10, cj ; 11, /, g.}

THISTLE FAMILY, p. 153.

The arrangement and names of the weeds listed are mainly
those of Britten and Brown's ''Illustrated Flora of the Northern
States and Canada." This is a work of three volumes published
by Chas. Scribncr's Sons, N. Y.. and is the only systematic botany
in which all species described are figured. Twenty-five of the
illustrations used in this book were taken from it. The others are
from the works of the various authors whose names are mentioned
under the respective figures.

At the end of the descriptions will be found a list of the princi-
pal books or papers which have been used in the preparation of
this work, and also a glossary of the more important botanical
terms which have been used.

The first letter in the parenthesis after the common names of
each weed listed shows whether the plant is an annual (A.), a bi-
ennial (B.) or a perennial (P.). The second letter denotes whether
it is introduced (T.) or native to Indiana (N.). The figure 1, 2 or
3 shows the class to which the weed has been assigned by the
writer, (See p. 12). Thus. 1 denotes that the weed belongs to
Class I., 2 a weed of Class II. and 3 a weed of Class III.

14)

A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF INDIANA

WEEDS.

THE GR.ASS FAMILY.— GRAMINE.E.

Annual or perennial herbs having the stems (culms) usually
hollow, their joints closed: leaves alternate, linear and sheathing
the stem, the sheaths split or open on the side opposite the blade;
roots fibrous. Flowers usually in panicled spikes, composed of little
spikes called spikelets; calyx and corolla absent but they and their
involucre represented by chaffy scales or bracts, known as glumes ;
stamens usually 3, anthers attached at middle at the point of the
filament (Fig. 11, (?) and swinging loosely thereon, thus enabling
the wind to easily pollenize the hairy or feather-like stigmas;
ovary 1-celled with a single ovule Fruit a seed-like "grain."

A very large and most important family furnishing the food-
grains (cereals) of man. and the principal food of cattle. About
175 species of grasses are known to grow wild in Indiana, the ma-
jority of them being tufted, turf- forming plants, marked by under-
ground rootstocks which branch and creep beneath the surface of
the soil. Their flower clusters vary greatly in form and size,
ranging from the solid spikes of timothy and foxtail to the loose
and straggling clusters of the panicums and blue-grass. Among
them are many forms which, though at times furnishing grasses for
stock, are enemies of cultivated crops, being introduced into the
fields by the sowing of their seeds with grain or other grass seeds.
Ten of the worst of these are herewith described as weeds while 5
others are mentioned.

"Grass is the most widely distributed of all vegetable life, and
is at once the type of our life and emblem of our mortality. Lying
in the sunshine among the buttercups and dandelions of May,
scarcely higher in intelligence than the minute tenants of that
mimic wilderness, our earliest recollections are of grass, and when
the fitful fever is ended and the foolish wrangle of the market and
the forum is closed, grass heals over the scar which our descent into
the bosom of the earth has made, and the carpet of the infant be-
comes the blanket of the dead.

"Grass is the forgiveness of nature — her constant benediction,

(50)

WEEDS OF THE GRASS FAMILY.

51

Fields trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the
ruts of cannon, grow green again with grass and carnage is for-
gotten. Streets abandoned by traffic become grass-grown like rural
lanes, and are obliterated. Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers
vanish, but grass is immortal. It bears no blazonry of bloom to
charm the senses with fragrance or with splendor, but its homely
hue is more enchanting than the lily or the rose. Should its har-
vest fail for but a single year, famine would depopulate the
world." — J. J. Ivgalh.

1. ANDROPOGON VIRGINICUS L. Virginia Beard-grass. Broom Sedge.
(P. N. 2.)

Erect in dense tufts, smooth, 2-4
feet high ; culms with numerous short
branches, light green when yotms,
brownish-yellow when mature; leaves
(J-1.2 inches long, acuminate, rough on
the margins. Spikes in pairs or some-
times 3 or 4, about 1 inch long, and
protruding from the side of the in-
flated leaf which surrounds the flower-
stem, the latter slender, jointed and
pubescent with many long spreading
silky hairs; spikelets in pairs, one of
them sessile and perfect, the other
wholly wanting or represented by a
mere scale. Seeds oat-like, i inch long
with a straight £ inch awn at tip.
(Fig. 1G.)

Common in the southern half of
State and gradually spreading
northward. July-Sept. Occurs in
poor clayey or sandy upland soil,
especially on hill slopes where the
rocks come close to the surface.
Spreads both by wind-carried seeds

and rootstocks and apt to become a serious pest. Remedies : grub-
bing out the first bunches which appear ; burning the land over in
early autumn to destroy the seeds; thorough cultivation; seeding
with clover or cow-peas.

The broom beard-grass (.4. scopariiis Michx.) is also very com-
mon in dr^v soils in southern Indiana and becoming frequent north-
ward. It differs in having the joints of the flower-stem (rachis)
thickened or club-shaped at the ends ; the spikes solitary, loose and
distant and the awn of the seed bent at base. Remedies the same.

Fig. 16. a, a spike; b, sessile spikelet; c and d,
first and second glumes. (After Scribner.)

52

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

2. SYNTIIERISMA SANGUINALIS L. Crab-grass. Finger-grass. (A. I. 1.)

Suberect or spreading, often rooting
at the lower joints, 1-3 feet long ; leaves
smooth or sparingly hairy, 2-6 inches
long. Spikes 3-10 in number, linear,
often purplish, 2-G inches long, in
whorls and spreading like fingers from
the top of the culm ; spikelets in pairs,
I inch long, one sessile or nearly so, sec-
ond scale half as long ; flowering stem
flat and winged. Seeds straw-color, 1/10
inch long (Fig. 17.)

Abundant in gardens, lawns and
cultivated grounds. June-Oct. Af-
ter midsummer in wet seasons one
of the worst of lawn weeds often
crowding out the blue-grass. When
cut or pulled and thrown aside its
stems quickly take root from the
joints and are soon as luxuriant as
before. Dry sandy fields in which
melons and other early crops are
cultivated are often over-run in late
autumn with this foreign grass.
The small crab-grass (S. linearis
Krock.), differing in having the
spikelets shorter, 1/12 inch long, the
second scale about as long, the leaves
and stems shorter, is also quite com-
mon in similar places. Remedies :
for lawns, pulling and burning;
clean grass seed; for gardens and
fields, late hoeing and thorough cul-
tivation; burning over in autumn.

3. PANICUM CRVS-GALLI L. Barnyard

Grass. Cockspur Grass. (A. I. 3.)
Stems erect, stout, often branching
at base, 1-4 feet high ; leaves G inches
to 2 feet long, rough-margined. Spikes
or branches of the flowering panicle f>
to 15 in number, erect or retiexed ; spike-

Fig. 17. a and b, spikelets; c, flowering
glume. (After Scribner.)

lets in 2-4 rows, green

purple,

crowded on one side of the flowering
stem; glumes of the neutral flowers

Fig. 18. a and b, spikelets; c and d, flowering
glumes. (After Scribner.)

WEEDS OF THE GRASS FAMILY.

awn-pointed. Seeds J inch long, pale brown, flat on one side, rounded on
the other. (Fig. IS.)

Frequent in barn-yards, orchards and rich moist waste places.
June-Sept. Often cut for forage \vhen other grass is scarce. Seeds
distributed in clover and millet seed, also by wind. Remedies :
mowing before the seeds are ripe ; clean clover seed.

PANICUM CAIMLLAKK L.
(A. N. 2.)

Old-witch Grass. Tumble-weed. Tickle-grass.

Erect or suberect, 1-2 feet high,
much branched from the base; sheaths
hispid or hairy; leaves (5-12 inches long,
more or less hairy. Flowers in a
spreading panicle ; spikelets, single,
scattered, borne on very slender stalks ;
lower glume half the length of the
empty upper one. Seeds straw-color,
very small, smooth and shining. (Fig.
19.)

Common in old cultivated fields,
especially those with a dry or sandy
soil. July— Oct. The spreading tops,
being very brittle, break off in au-
tumn and are blown into fence cor-
ners or against some barrier where
they form great piles. Remedies :
mowing and burning to prevent
seeding. About 30 species of Pani-
cum grow wild in Indiana, all of
which are more or less weedy in
character, though some of them are
cut for hay when other grass is scarce.

Fig. 19. a, b and c, spikelets; d, flowering
glume; e, palea. (After Scribner.)

f». IXOPHOKUS GLAUCUS L. Yellow Foxtail. Pigeon-grass-. Pussy-grass.

(A. I. 1.)

Stems several, erect, more or less branched, 1-3 feet high ; leaves 2-G
inches long, smooth. Spikes straw-yellow, cylindrical, dense, 1-4 inches
long; spikelets oval, much shorter than the cluster of C> to 11 yellow
bristles which spring from beneath them, these roughened or barl>ed up-
ward. Seeds brownish, £ inch long, flattened on one side, much wrinkled
crosswise. (Figs. 0, fj: 20.)

One of our worst weeds, occurring everywhere in cultivated
grounds; also in meadows, lawns and pastures. July-Sept. The
seeds in grain fields mostly ripen after the corn has been laid by or
the oats and wheat cut. They are much relished by birds and poultry
and are sometimes destroyed by a smut. When buried they retain

54

THE IXDTAXA WEED BOOK.

Fig. 20. a and b, spikelets, a showing the
bristles which sp.-ing from beneath. (After
Scribner.)

their vitality for years, ready to
spring up whenever conditions are
favorable. Remedies: use of clean
seed ; smothering when young ; mow-
ing and burning stubble, followed by
fall plowing ; cultivation throughout
the season; sheep grazing in pas-
tures, old fields and the aftermath
of meadows. A flock of sheep will
soon clean out all the weeds in a corn
field, without injury to the corn, if
turned in for a few days in early
autumn.

The green foxtail or bottle-grass
(/. viridis L.) is a closely allied
species which is also common in the
State. The spike is green, more
loosely seeded and tapers at the end,
and the bristles are longer and also
greenish. Remedies the same.

0. CENCHRUS TRIHULOIDES

(A. X. 1.)

Snberect or spreading, branching free-
ly, 8 inches to 2 feet long; sheath loose,
compressed; leaves flat, 3-5 inches long,
smooth. Spikelets enclosed, 1 to 5 to-
gether, in a globular bristly or spiny
cover, which hardens and falls off with
them as a rigid bur. (Fig. 21.)

Common in sandy soil throughout
the State. July-Get. The points on the
spines of the burs have barbs directed
backwards so that the bur sticks very
closely to wool, fur or clothing and
thus distributes far and wide the en-
closed seeds. They are said to be
more injurious in wool than the burs
of any other weed. Old Linnaeus
must have pricked his finger on one
of the barbed spines when he named
this grass tribuloides. It is a tribula-
tion indeed to barefooted boys. Very
troublesome also is it to wool-growers

L. Sand-bur. Bur-grass. Hedgehog-grass.

Fig. 21. a, bur; b, the same split to show
the enclosed spike'tts; c, spikelct with
glumes. (After Scribner.)

WEEDS OP THE GRASS FAMILY.

55

Fig. 22. (After Vasey.)

and a great nuisance in hay cut
from sandy soil. Remedies: burn-
ing over annually the area in-
fested; hoeing or other close culti-
vation.

7. ERAGROSTIS MAJOR Host. Stinki'ng-
grass. Pungent Meadow-grass.
(A. I. 2.)

Erect or spreading at base. 6 inches
to 2 feet, tall, smooth ; leaves 2-7 inches
long: sheaths shoiter than the joints.
Flowers in a compound panicle 2-'l
inches in length, its brandies spread-
ing : spikelets densely X-35 flowered,
very flat, whitish when old. Seeds
pale red, very small, nearly round.
(Fig. 22.)

A showy ill-smelling grass, oc-
curring in sandy soil, meadows and
waste places. July-Sept. The tlat

lead-colored heads make it easily known. Remedies: prevent seed-
ing by late and thorough cultivation.
The low meadow-grass (K. cra-

grostis L.) is a closely allied species.

\vith shorter stems and spikes and

narrower spikelets. Also introduced

and spreading rapidly. Remedies

the same.

X. BKOMUS si<:cALixrs L. Cheat. Chess

(A. I. 2.)

Erect, unhranched, 1-.3 feet tall ;
sheaths shorter than the joints; leaves
2-9 inches long. Flowering panicle 2-X
inches in length, glabrous, its branches
drooping; spikelets oblong-ovate, swol-
len, (J-10 flowered, the nerves of the
scales often awned or bristle tipped.
Seeds resembling those of oats but
darker and SHIM Her, ;4 inch long, the ad-
hering glumes with a row of bristles
down each side of the groove. (Fig. 2.8. )
A winter annual, common in
grain fields and often along fence-
rows, June-Aug, The seeds when buried retain vitality for years

Fig. 2?>. a, spikelet. (After Scribner.)

56

THE INDIANA WEED HOOK.

and then often spring up where clean seed wheat has been sown,
giving rise to a common belief among farmers that wheat turns
to cheat. Needless to say, the two are very distinct grasses and
each comes always from its own seed. Remedies : preventing the
seed from ripening by pulling or mowing the cheat ; sowing clean
seed of wheat, oats or other cereal ; cultivation with hoed crops.

The downy brome-grass or slender chess (B. tcctorum L.) oc-
curs in the northern part of the State, and is liable to become a
bad weed. It ma}7 be known by its weak stem and somewhat one-
sided downy panicles. The lower empty scale is but 1 -nerved
whereas in cheat it is 3-nerved. Remedies the same.

0. AGROPYRON REPENS L. Couch-grass. Quack-grass. Dog-grass. Devil's-
grass. (P. I. 1.)

Steins several, 1-3 feet tall, from a long jointed running rootstock :
sheaths smooth ; leaves flat, rough above. Spike 2-8 inches long, not
branched; spikelets in 2 rows, 3-7 flowered, the scales glabrous, acute
or short-awned. Seeds slender, f inch long, 5-7 nerved and short-awned
at tip. (Fig. 24.)

A perennial grass, sometimes cut for hay but in most places
a vicious weed, occurring in grain fields, spreading by its large,

strong creeping rootstocks and
crowding out the grain. June-
Sept. The rootstocks run just be-
neath the surface and are so strong
and unyielding that they have been
known to push their way through a
potato. Remedies: (a) in culti-
vated fields, shallow plowing in
early autumn, then harrowing to
work the rootstocks free from the
.soil, followed by raking and burn-
ing, or if too wet, throwing them
into heaps and allowing them to rot.
A second and deeper plowing, har-
rowing and raking will often be
necessary to thoroughly remove the
deeper growing stocks. Such fall
plowing, followed by thorough cul-
tivation the next season, will usually
clean out the weed. (1} Shallow
plowing and harrowing in hot dry weather, (c) Plowing under

Fig. 24. (After Vasey.)

OF TTTE SEDflE PAMTt.Y.

deeply after the grass has been cut for hay. (d) In lawns, hoe-
cutting and salting, burning or removing every joint.

In Europe these underground stems are gathered and sold, be-
ing used in medicine for kidney and bladder troubles. They are
pale yellow, smooth, about -J inch in diameter, with joints at in-
tervals of an inch from which slender rootlets are produced. When
washed, cut into short pieces, about 2/5 inch in length, on a hay
or feed cutter and dried, these rootstocks (not the rootlets) are
sold to the drug trade as dog-grass or triticum, the price ranging
from 3 to 7 cents per pound.

10. HORDEUM JUBATUM L. Wild Barley. Squirrel-tail Grass. Skunk
Grass. (P. N. 2.)

Erect, simple, smooth, 10-30 inches
high ; sheaths shorter than the joints ;
leaves flat, 1-5 inches long, erect, rough.
Spikes terminal, cylindrical, 2-4 inches
long ; spikelets in two opposite rows,
usually in 3's at each joint of the flower-
stem, the central one containing a per-
fect flower, the two side ones imperfect;
the empty scales forming rough awns,
harhed upwards, 1-3 inches long; awn of
flowering scale 1-2 inches long. Seed
slender, £ inch long, sharp-pointed, re-
sembling that of rye. (Fig. 25.)

Frequent in old fields and along
fence-rows and railways in dry and
rather poor clayey or gravelly soil.
July-Sept. It grows usually in large
tufts from fibrous roots and is easily
known by the grayish-green leaves
and long, bearded nodding spikes.
The barbed seeds and awns often
penetrate the flesh surrounding the mouths of animals which at-
tempt to eat it, causing ulcers, swellings, and, in some instances, to-
tal blindness. Hay containing the grass is therefore almost value-
less. It spreads only by seeds, which are widely scattered by wind
and water, and can be controlled by cutting or pulling before the
seeds ripen, or by cultivation. Isolated clumps should be destroyed
wherever seen.

THE SEDGE FAMILY.— CYPERACE^E.

A large family of grass-like or rush-like herbs, but having the
stems slender, generally solid instead of hollow and often either
triangular or 4-sided ; leaves grass-like, with the sheaths closed ;

Fig. 25. a, spikelet. (After Scribner.)

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

roots fibrous. Flowers without petals or sepals, arranged in spike-
lets and usually solitary in the axils of each scale or glume; sta-
mens 1-3; ovary 1-celled, producing a single seed which in fruit
usually forms a three-cornered nutlet called an achene.

About 160 species of the family are known from the State. For
the most part they grow in damp places, as the borders of streams
and lakes, along ditches and the margins of sloughs They are com-
monly known as sedges, cotton-
grasses, spike-rushes, bulrushes, nut-
grasses, etc., and have little or no
economic value. A few of them on
wet prairies and lake margins are
cut for hay, but it is coarse-stemmed
and of poor quality. Occupying
\vaste places, as they generally do,
they are given little attention by
the farmer, and though many of
them, did they grow in cultivated
ground, are abundant enough to be
called weeds, only a few have a ten-
dency to spread. Like the grasses,
the sedges are mostly plants of open
windswept places or marshy levels,
where the facilities for wind fertili-
zation are greatest and more usually

Fig. 26. (After Smith.) present.

11. CYPERUS ESCULENTUS L. Yellow Xut-grass. Galingale. (P. N. 3.)

Stems erect, stout, triangular. 1-2^ feet tall, shorter than the basal
leaves, which are light green, 1/3 inch wide. Flowers in an umbel with
4-10 branches and involucre of 3-(> leaves ; spikelets numerous, straw-
colored, flat, their flower-stalk narrowly winged ; style 3-cleft. Achenes
obovate-oblong, 3-angled. (Fig. 20.)

Common in low cultivated ground which has been recently
drained. July— Oct. Spreads by underground stems bearing small
pear-shaped tubers, i inch in length, at intervals of a few inches;
seeds also carried in hay, and grass seed, and the tubers often on
cultivating tools. The numerous tubers are edible, containing
about 22 per cent, of oil, 28 per cent, of starch and 12 to 21 per
cent, of gum and sugar. The oil when extracted is said to be most
excellent for cooking purposes. In rich sandy loams this sedge is
often allowed to grow as a food for hogs, which are turned into
the field in autumn to root up the tubers. Remedies: frequent

WEEDS OF THE RUSH FAMILY.

59

hoeing throusrhout the season ; keep fence rows clean ; thick seed-
ing with clover or timothy.

An allied species, the straw-colored sedge (C. strigosus L.) dif-
fering in propagating by solid bulb-like tubers from the base, the
spikes longer and more loose and achenes linear-oblong, is also a
common weed in damp soils. Remedies the same.

THE RUSH FAMILY.— JUNCACE.E.

Perennial or annual grass-like herbs, often growing in tufts;
stems usually simple, slender, cylindrical ; leaf-blades terete, grass-
like or channeled, the sheaths with free margins. Flowers small,
clustered; sepals and petals 6, chaff-like, without scales or glumes
beneath them as in the two preceding families; stamens 3 or 6;
ovary 1- or 3-celled with 3 stigmas. Fruit a small capsule opening
at the sides; seeds usually numerous.

Only about 25 kinds of rushes are known from the State. They
usually occur on the sandy beaches of lakes or along the borders
of marshes and swamps and resemble sedges but have the parts
of the small flowers in threes, like the lily family, but not showy
as there. Neither the scouring rush nor the tall bulrushes belong
to this family, so that their names are misleading. Only one of
the true rushes is with us to be considered as a weed.

12. JUNCUS TKNUIS Wilkl. Wire-grass. Slender Hush. Yard Hush. (P. X. 3.)
Steins erect, slender, tufted, wiry, S-20 inches high ; true leaves all

basal, Hat linear, half the length of stein; leaf-like bract just below thy

flowering portion longer than the latter.
Sepals jind petals green, lanceolate, acute,
spreading, longer than the egg-shaped cap-
sule; stamens 0. Seeds narrowly oblong
with oblique ends, very small, delicately
ribbed and cross-lined. (Fig. 27.)

Common in dry or moist soil, espe-
cially along woodland pathways, bor-
ders of fields and roadsides. June—
Aug. The stems are full of elasticity
and after being trodden upon by man
cr beast spring erect, apparently un-
harmed. It is this property of upris-
ing after adversity which enables the
wire-grass to thrive along the path-
ways and crowd therefrom the more valuable blue-grass which re-
mains down when crushed beneath the heel or hoof. Remedies:
sheep-grazing; thorough cultivation where found in fields..

Fig. 27. Showing fruit and seed. (After
Britton and Brown.)

60

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

THE LILY FAMILY.— LILI ACE JE.

Herbs with grass-like leaves, arising usually from bulbs or
corms, rarely from rootstoeks or fibrous roots. Flowers solitary or
clustered, perfect, the calyx and corolla colored alike and forming a
perianth, their six divisions either distinct or more or less united
to form a tube; stamens 6. borne on the tube of the perianth or
at the base of its segments ; ovary 3-celled. Fruit a capsule, open-
ing lengthwise.

As above defined the Lily Family comprises about 1,300 species
of widely distributed plants, many of them producing the most
showy and graceful of flowers. The different species of trilliums,
wake-robins, smilax or green-briers and bellworts, bunch flowers,
etc., have been separated by modern botanists to form 3 distinct
families, thus greatly decreasing the number formerly included
within its bounds. As a result only about 20 species, belonging to
the family as limited, grow wild in Indiana. These include the
day and wood lilies, wild onions and garlics, adder 's-tongues and
wild hyacinths. Of these but one is common and troublesome
enough to be termed a weed.

13. ALLIUM VINEALE L. Wild or Field Garli'c. Wild Onion. (A. or B. I. 1.)

Stein 1-3 feet high, springing from
an egg-shaped bulb ; leaves 2-4, nar-
rowly linear, hollow, terete, channeled
above, borne below the middle of the
flowering stem; the early basal leaves
similar, 4-10 inches long. Flowers nu-
merous, green or purplish, in a ter-
minal erect cluster or umbel, often
wholly or in part replaced by small
bulblets which are tipped by long hair-
like appendages; bracts below th°
flowers 2, lanceolate, pofnted, soon
falling off; flower stalks much longer
than the flowers. Seeds black, flat,
triangular, 1/16 inch long. (Fig. 28.)

Common in rather thin clayey
soils in southern Indiana, June-
Aug. This weed has a strong
onion-like odor and the numerous
bulblets which it bears, like sets of
common onions at the top of the

Stem, are formed early eilOUgh to
]je harvested with wheat and Spoil

the flour. Where found in pas-

F,g.28. a, matu-e plant bearing bulblets and
flowers; b, young shoot; c, bulblet with filament
and same enlarged; a, cross-section of leaf. (After

WEEDS OF THE NETTLE FAMILY. 61

tures cows eat the stems and leaves, which impart their odor to the
milk and butter, and the flesh of animals eating them is also tainted
with the flavor. The bulblets are produced more often than the
seed and must be destroyed or prevented from forming if the garlic
is eradicated. Where the tops are not allowed to produce bulblets
the garlic develops numerous small secondary bulbs or "cloves" at
the base of the old underground bulb. In late autumn these send
up tufts of blue-green shoots which are apparently little injured
by the cold of winter. By spring the small bulbs become as large
as peas and soon develop a flowering stalk. In general both bulbs
and bulblets spread slowly unless scattered by plow or harrow or
some other device of man.

The garlic was first introduced into Indiana near New Ross
with bulbs of the grape hyacinth brought from New York. In
the southwestern part of the State it was brought in by bulblets in
impure wheat and in recent years much complaint of it has been
made by the wheat growers of the "White and Wabash valley re-
gions. Remedies: (a) late fall plowing at such a depth as to leave
as many bulbs as possible close to the surface where they may be
exposed to alternate thawing and freezing, the surviving shoots to
be destroyed by early spring cultivation and the land then sowed
to oats or put in corn. This process repeated for two seasons will
destroy most of the garlic and the remaining plants can be pulled
or treated with strong carbolic acid, a dozen drops of which, ap-
plied by a machine oil can to a bunch of underground bulbs, will
kill them all. (6) Increased liming and fertilization and short ro-
tation of crops, crowding out with clover, (c) In pastures, salting
and sheep grazing, (d) In lawns, applications of carbolic acid.

THE NETTLE FAMILY.— URTICACE^E.

Herbs with watery sap, simple leaves, small greenish flowers
and often armed with stinging hairs. Sepals 2-5, often united;
petals none; stamens as many as the sepals and opposite them;
ovary 1-celled, 1-seeded. when ripe forming an achene.

But six species of the family are listed from the State, five of
which may be classed as weeds, though only two are in places com-
mon enough to be troublesome. Those which sting have the stems
and leaves provided with peculiar hairs which are hollow, very
sharp-pointed and have swollen bases around which a cluster of
cells form a cup-like gland. When these hairs strike and enter
the flesh their tips are broken off and the glandular cells contract
and inject through them a very- irritating acid which produces the

62

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

stinging sensation. This nettle sting is one of the highest devices
by which plants guard themselves against the attack of animals.
Weeds, or shrubs with juicy tender leaves, are very apt to be
eaten by rabbits, cows, sheep, etc. Many of the wild plants have
therefore developed some means of protection, such as the spines
or prickles of the blackberry, thistle, rose and hawthorne ; the bitter
taste or bad smell of hound's tongue, dog- fennel and catnip; the
many hairs of the mullen, and the acrid or poisonous juice of the
buttercups, poison ivy, spurges and smartweeds. The nettle, how-
ever, is not only defensive but even aggressive in its protection, so
that when any herb-loving animal thrusts his tender nose against
it the sharp points pierce his skin, the liquid is injected into his
veins and he receives a lesson which prevents him from ever at-
tempting to devour another plant of its kind. Only three of our
nettles possess these stinging hairs.

14. T'RTiCA GRACILIS Ait. Slender Nettie. Tall Nettle. (P. N. 3.)

Stem slender, erect, simple or few
branched. 2-6 feet high ; leaves oppo-
site, slender-stalked, ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate, sharply notched. Flowers
small, greenish, borne on slender pan-
i'cled spikes from the axils of- the
leaves ; sepals and stamens 4, the flow-
ers direci'ous, i. e., male and female
flowers on separate plants. Achenes
very small, oval, 1/20 inch long.
(Fig- 29.)

Frequent in fence-rows and
along borders of cultivated fields,
especially in moist soil. June-Oct.
Stinging hairs few and the plant
spreading both by running root-
stocks and seeds. Remedies : mowing in June and again in August ;
burning mature plants in autumn ; grubbing or cultivation.

15. URTICASTRUM UIVARICATUM L. Wood Nettle. Star Nettle. (I*. N. 3.)
Stem rather stont, erect, 2-3 feet high ; leaves alternate, thin, ovate.

long-stalked, sharply notched, pointed. Flower clusters large, loose: se-
pals and stamens of male flowers 5. sepals of female flowers 4, unequal.
Achene ovate, flat, oblique, twice as long as the calyx.

Common in dense woods in rich soil and in moist shady places.
July-Sept. Thickly clothed with stinging hairs. Remedies, same
as for preceding species.

Fig. 29. Showing a flower and fruit. (After
Britton and Brown.)

WEEDS OF THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.— POLYGONACE.E.

Herbs or twining vines with alternate entire leaves, jointed
steins and usually sheathing united stipules just above the swollen
joints. Flowers small, regular, arranged in various forms of in-
ilorescence : petals none ; calyx free, often colored, 2-6 parted ; sta-
mens 2-9; ovary 1 -celled with 2 or 3 styles and a single ovule.
Fruit an achene, usually either triangular or 4-sided, often com-
pressed and winged, usually covered by the persistent calyx.

About 35 species of the family grow wild in the State. Buck-
wheat and rbubarb or "pie-plant" are cultivated members. Our
wild species are known as docks, smartweeds, knotweeds and bind-
weeds, and flourish in various localities. Many of them possess an
acrid juice. The leaves of knotweeds are small and slender while
those of smartweeds are larger and willow-like. The bindweeds
have mostly arrow-shaped or heart-shaped leaves and twining or
climbing stems. To the family belong two or three of our worst
weeds and a number of others which are less troublesome.

If). RUMEX ACETOSELLA L. Field
Sheep Sorrel. Sour- weed.

Sorrel. Horse Sorrel. Red Sorrel.
(P. I. 1.)

Stem slender, erect or nearly so,
0-15 inches high ; leaves usually
hastate and mostly from the root on.
long slender steins, 1-4 inches long.
Flowers numerous, dioecious in whorls
of 3-0, nodding and borne on a
naked panicle; calyx reddish-green;
pistillate flowers tipped with 3 tiny,
crimson feathery stigmas. Fruit
longer than calyx, not margined,
covered with small granules. Seeds
hi own, triangular, 1/20 inch long.
(Fig. 30.)

Common in old cultivated
fields, meadows and pastures, es-
pecially those on sloping hillsides
or with a sandy soil. May— Oct.
Leaves very sour, often picked
and eaten. Spreading by run-
ning root stocks as well as by seed
and often crowding out feeble
growths of other crops. Its pres-
ence usually indicates a poor,
light soil, where little else will grow. This dock should not be

Fig. 30. Male and female flowers shown on right
above. (After Vasey.)

64 titE tNf)lAN"A WEED BOOK.

confused with the yellow wood sorrel, often called "sheep-sorrel"
(Oxalis stricta L.). which has clover-like leaves and belongs to a
wholly different family. Remedies: use of lime or other fertilizers
which will enable other plants, as clover or grasses, to grow and
crowd out the sorrel; fertilizing and reseeding worn-out pastures
and meadows with clean seed.

17. RUMEX CRISPUS L. Curled Dock. Sour Dock. Yellow Dock. (P. T. 1.)

Stem rather slender, erect, furrowed, simple or branched above, 1-4
feet hi'gh, springing from a long yellow spindle-shaped root ; root-leaves
oblong-lanceolate, heart-shaped or obtuse at base, long-stalked and with
wavy -curled margins; those of stem short-stalked and smaller. Flowers
drooping, borne in whorls on a long, leafless wand-like raceme; calyx dark
green, the inner sepals large, heart-shaped, each with a tubercle on the
back. Seeds brown, triangular, smooth, shining, 1/12 inch long.

Common along roadsides, fence-rows, in barnyards, dooryards
and waste places generally. May-Sept. The root-leaves when
young are often used for "greens" but the plant is an eyesore and
a troublesome weed, difficult to eradicate on account of its long
stout roots. Remedies: hand pulling, deep cutting or grubbing
before the seed ripens; mowing several times during the season.

In England it is common and is referred to by Shakespeare in
the lines:

"Nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs."

The phrase "in dock, out nettle" is used as an incantation in
Northern England. If a person is stung with a nettle the affected
part is rubbed with a dock leaf, the phrase being several times re-
peated. The same words are there also much used to denote in-
constancy or sudden change, whence the lines :

"Uncertaine, certaine, never loves to settle,
But here, there, everywhere, in dock, out nettle."

The roots of this and the next species, when collected in late sum-
mer or autumn, washed, split lengthwise and carefully dried, are
used for purifying the blood and as a remedy in skin diseases.
The price ranges from 2 to 8 cents a pound.

IS. RUMEX oBTUsiEOLirs L. Bitter Dock. Broad-leaved Dock. (1*. I. 2.)
Resembles the preceding but has the lower leaves broader, ovate, more
heart-shaped at base and the inner sepals with straight spine-tipped teeth
on the margins and only one of them with an oblong tubercle on back.
Seed slightly larger, darker and with a longer beak. (Fig. 31.)

WEEDS OF THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.

65

Occurs in the same places as
the curled dock, but less common.
June- Aug. The seeds of both these
docks are often found in clover and
alfalfa seed which has not been
properly cleaned. Where found in
cultivated land, both can be eradi-
cated only by short rotation or thor-
ough cultivation with hoed crops.

19. POLYGONUM PENNSYLVANICUM L.

Pennsylvania Smart weed. Gland-
ular Persicary. (A. N. 2.)
Erect, simple or branched, 2-l> feet
high, the flower stems with numerous
glands; leaves lanceolate, pointed, 2-11
inches long. Spikes several, short, erect,
cylindrical, dense flowered ; calyx dark
pink or rose color, 5-parted. Seeds lens-
shaped, £ inch long, dark, shining.

Fig. 31. ( After Vasey—

(Fig. 32.)

Common in moist soil,
especially that near the
margins of lakes, ponds
and marshes. July-Oct.
Stems stouter than our
other forms and when old
very hard and woody.
Seeds frequent in those of
clover cut from lowlands.
The leaves are often spot-
ted with a reddish leaf-
spot fungus and the heads
are sometimes affected with,
a smut which destroys the
s(Hjds. Remedies: mowing
before the seeds have rip-
ened; hoeing, pulling and
cultivating.

20. POLYGONUM PERSICARIA L.
Lady's Thumb. Spot-
ted Smartweed. Heart-
weed. (A. I. 2.)
Stem erect or ascendirg, simple or much branched, glabrous, (5 inche.

to 2 feet high; leaves lanceolate, pointed at both ends, often with a tri-

Fig. 32. Showing the flower opened and spread apart and
the fruit with its two styles. (After Small.)

[5]

66

TITE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

angular dark spot near the center. Spikes solitary or in panicles, pink
or dark purple, 1-2 inches long, oblong, dense-flowered, erect on smooth
stems. Seeds heart-shaped or triangular, black, smooth, shining, 1/12
inch long.

Common in gardens, barnyards, waste places and cultivated
fields, especially those of moist clover-lands. June-Oct. The name
lady 's thumb is given .it on account of the dense oblong reddish
spikes. According to Dr. S. A. Forbes it harbors the corn-root
aphis, the louse appearing with the first leaves of the plant. Rem-
edies, same as for the preceding.

21. POLYGONUM HYDKOPiPER L. Common Smartweed. Water-pepper. (A.
I. 2.)

Stem erect, slender, simple
or branched, often red or red-
dish, 8-24 inches high ; leaves
lanceolate, 1-4 inches long,
marked with pellucid punctures.
Spikes slender, weak, drooping.
1-3 inches long; flowers scat-
tered, greenish-white ; stamens
4 or C>. Seeds either lens-shaped
or 3-angled, oblong, opaque or
dull not shining, £ inch long.
(Fig. 33.)

Abundant in dooryards,
barnyards, upland as well as
lowland cultivated fields,
ditches and borders of ponds.
June-Oct. The leaves are
very acrid and the juice
when applied to the skin
sometimes causes blisters or
ulcers. Remedies : pulling or
mowing ; thorough cultiva-
tion.

The mild water-pepper (P. hydropiperoides Miehx.), a peren-
nial having the leaves narrower, not punctate, the stamens 8 and
the seed shining, is often found with the preceding, while the
swamp smartweed (P. cmcrsum Michx.), also a perennial with
much broader leaves and only 1 or 2 spikes of flowers, is common
in moist lowlands. Altogether 12 species of true smartweeds are
known from the State, but the five mentioned are the more widely
distributed and the ones likely to be most troublesome.

Fig. 33. Showing the flower and the fruit with cross-
sections of latter. (After Small.)

WEEDS OP THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.

67

22. POLYGON UM AVICULARE L.
X. 1.)

Knot-grass. Door-weed. Goose-grass.

Stem prostrate or sub-
erect, slender, dull bluish-
green, 4-18 inches long;
leaves oblong or linear,
i-| inch long, nearly ses-
sile. Flowers axillary, in
clusters of 1-5, s in a 1 1
short-stemmed, greenish
with white or pink bor-
ders ; stamens 5-8. Seeds
dull black, 1/10 inch long,
.'{-angled and minutely
granular. (Fig. 34.)

Very common, form-
ing mats of spreading,
wiry, jointed stems in
yards and along path-
ways and roadsides
where the ground is
much trodden; also in
cultivated lands. June-
No v. This is one of the

social weeds, such as plantain, burdock, catnip, etc., which accom-
panied the white man in his march across and conquest of the
North American Continent. Holmes refers to it in the lines:

"Knot-grass, plantain — all the social weeds,
Man's mute companions, following where he leads/'

An infusion of it was formerly supposed to retard bodily growth
and is referred to by Shakespeare in the lines:

"(iet you gone, you dwarf;
You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made."

The erect knot-grass (P. crcclnm L.) is also often found with
the common form. It is erect or ascending, 1-2 feet high and has
the leaves and often the flowers yellowish, the former 1-2 inches
long. Both species are attacked by a mildew and sometimes by a
smut.

Remedies: pulling or mowing before the seeds ripen; thorough
cultivation with hoed crops; cement and concrete; walks for vards.

Fig. 34. Showing the flower and fruit. (After Small.)

68

THE INDIANA WEEP BOOK.

23 POLYGONUM CONVOLVULUS L.
I. 1.)

Fig. 35. Showing the flower and fruit. (After Small.)

of the flood plains and by birds and
edies: mowing and burning before
tivation with hoed crops; sowing
clean seed; early fall plowing and
harrowing to induce the seeds to
sprout before winter.

Black Bindweed. Wild Buckwheat. (A.

Stem twining or trailing,
G inches-3 feet long, roughish,
the joilits naked ; leaves ovate
or arrow-shaped, pointed, long-
stemmed, 1-3 inches Jong.
Flowers in louse axillary clus-
ters, greenish-white, drooping ;
calyx- 5-parted. adhering close-
ly to the achene which is
3-angled, black, granular, dull-
pointed, | inch long. (Figs. 0,
a; 35.)

Common in lowlands, es-
pecially in corn- and wheat-
fields, where it often twines
about and pulls down the
stalks or weeds. June-Sept.
The leaves and seeds are
similar to those of buck-
wheat and the plant is dis-
tributed widely by overflow
the droppings of cattle. Rem-
the seeds ripen ; thorough cul-

A

24.

Climb-
Bind-

POLYGONUM SCANDENS L.

ing False Buckwheat.

weed. (P. N. 3.)
Stem climbing, 2-25 feet long,
rather stout, branched. Leaves heart-
shaped, pointed, 1-6 inches long. Flow-
ers greenish yellow, in numerous inter-
rupted leafy panicles; calyx 5-parted,
the three outer segments strongly
keeled and hi fruit winged. Seeds
black, triangular, 1/6 inch long, blunt,
smooth, shining.

Common in moist soil, along
fence-rows, borders of thickets and
cultivated, fields, climbing high
over fences, shrubs, brush piles, etc.
Julv-Oct. The seeds are often

Fig. 36. Showing the flower and three-sided
fruit. (After Small.)

WEEDS OF THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY.

69

found with those of clover, but are easily separated by proper screen,
ing. Remedies, same as for the preceding.

25. FOLYGONUM SAGITTATUM L. Arrow-leaved Tear-thumb. (A. N. 3.)

Stem weak, 2-5 feet Ions, decumbent or climbing by recurved prickles
which are numerous along its four angles ; leaves arrow-shaped, pointed,
nearly sessile, the stalks and midribs prickly. Flowers in dense terminal
heads ; sepals pale red with whitish margins, not keeled. Seeds triangular,
dark red, smooth, shining, $ inch long. (Figs. 8, c; 30.)

Borders of ditches, ponds and moist places generally. July-
Oct. Mowers and haymakers in low ground are familiar with this
weed, its sharp prickles being a sufficient excuse for its common
name. Remedies: mowing and burning before the seeds ripen;
draining and cultivation. The halberd-leaved tear-thumb (P. ari-
folium L.), differing in the leaves being hastate and the seeds lens-
shaped, occurs with the preceding but is much less common.

THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY.— CHENOPODIACEJE.

Annual or perennial weed-like or homely herbs, with mostly
alternate leaves. Flowers small, greenish, very numerous, variously
clustered but usually in panicled spikes or solitary in the axils of
the leaves; petals none; calyx 2-5 parted; stamens as many as or
fewer than the lobes of the calyx and opposite them ; ovar^ free

from the calyx, 1-celled, 1 -seeded.
Fruit a utricle, the seed-vessel be-
ing surrounded by a loose, thin
wall or bladder-like sac. (Fig.
14, d.)

Only about 16 species of the
family grow wild in Indiana, but
among them are several weeds
which are rapidly spreading or
occur throughout the State. The
beet and spinach are cultivated
members of the family. The com-
mon name, ' ' goosef oot, ' ' refers to
the shape of the leaves.

20. CIIKNOPODIUM ALIHTM L. Lamb's
Quarters. White (Joose-foot.
Pigweed. (A. I. 1.)
Stem pale green, often striped

with purple, erect, usually much

Fig. 37. (After Vasey.)

branched, 1-8 inches tall ; lower
leaves ovate, toothed or lobed; upper lanceolate, often entire; all white-

70 THK INDIANA WEED BOOK.

mealy beneath. Flowers hi simple or compound terminal and axillary
spikes; lobes of calyx strongly keeled, nearly covering the fruit. Seeds
circular, lens-shaped, black, shining, 1/20 inch in diameter. (Figs. 0, b ;
14, rf; 37.)

Abundant in gardens, yards, waste grounds and cultivated
fields, especially those in which corn, potatoes, etc., have been laid
by. June-Oct, The name pigweed properly belongs to some of
the members of the next family. The young plants and leaves are
in some places used for "greens." The striped beet beetle* (Sys-
tcna tocniata Say), both in the mature and larval stages, feeds upon
it. It is also attacked by several species of fungi and in turn har-
bors the melon louse. Remedies; thorough and late cultivation
with hoed crops; pulling or mowing and burning before the seeds
ripen; harrowing growing crops of grain when the young cereals
are about 3 inches high.

The maple-leaved goose foot (C. hybrid urn L.), leaves without
mealy scales, broad and shaped like a maple leaf, and the upright
or city goose foot (C. urbicum L.), leaves also without scales, broad,
triangular and truncate at base, both occur frequently in streets,
alleys, waste places and borders of fields. They are usually con-
fused with lamb's quarters and should receive the same treatment.
A fourth species, as yet listed only from Tippecanoe and Hamil-
ton counties, is the nettle-leaved goosefoot (C. murale L.), also a
European weed, whose leaves are ovate, thin, sharply and coarsely
cut-toothed, the spikes shorter than the leaves and loosely panicled
in their axils.

27. riiENOPomuM AMBROSIOIDES L. Mexican Tea. American Wormseed.

(A. I. 2.)

Stem ascending or erect, grooved, much branched, glandular-pubescent,
strongly scented. 2-8 feet high ; leaves oblong or lanceolate, edges undulate
or entire, 1-4 inches long. Flowers in small dense, leafy axillary clusters;
calyx 3-parted. completely enclosing the fruit. Seeds small, shining,
kidney-shaped.

Frequent in streets, alleys and along river banks in the southern
two-thirds of the State. July-Oct. Remedies the same as for
lamb's quarters.

The wormsee.d (('.'. anthelminticum L.), a closely allied species,
strongly scented and having the spikes in large leafless terminal
panicles, occurs with the Mexican tea and is often confused with it.
The essential oils from the seeds of both this and the Mexican tea
are used as an anthelmintic or vermifuge, hence the common names
of "wormseed." One or the other or both these species are, in

*Tbe No. 2260 of the Indiana Catalogue of Beetles.

WEEDS OF THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY.

71

the vicinity of towns, the prevailing growth along the immediate
sloping banks of the Ohio, Wabash and other streams. The seeds
of both are salable at drug stores, the price ranging from 6 to 8
cents a pound. The oil distilled from the seeds is worth about
$1.50 per pound.

2X. A TRIPLEX p ATU LA L. Spreading Orache. (A. 1.1.}

Stein much branched, halt1 erect, spreading, dark green, glabrous or
somewhat scurfy; lower loaves lanceolate, slender-stalked, usually toothed
or 3-lobed below the middle; upper ones linear, nearly sessile, often entire.
Flowers in clusters arranged in interrupted leafy spikes, small, greenish,
the two sexes separate; staminate flowers with a .'->-"> parted calyx and
the same number of stamens; pistillate ones without calyx, but with 2
more or less united leaf-like bracts at base which partly or wholly enclose
the utricle. Seeds like those of lamb's quarters.

Frequent along railway em-
bankments, roadsides and in waste
places and old fields, especially
about cities and towns. June- Aug.
This is an Eastern weed which is
gradually spreading westward. In
Indiana it has been recorded from
Steuben, Hamilton, Marion and
Tippecanoe counties and is very
common about Indianapolis and
Lafayette. The halberd - leaved
orache (A. hastata L., Fig. 38) dif-
fering mainly in having the lower
leaves only once or twice as long
as wide, triangular with pointed
lobes at base, is also recorded from
Wells and Madison counties. Both
form broad masses 1 or 2 feet high
and often several feet in diameter.
They are vile weeds of the same character as lamb's quarters and
pigweed and when discovered should be destroyed at once. Rem-
edies: pulling or deep hoe cutting before the seeds ripen.

20. SALSOLA THAGUS L. Russian Thistle. Kussian factus. (A. I. 1.)

Stem bushy-branched, ascending or spreading, 1-8 feet high and twice
as broad, the outer branches and leaves usually bright red when full
grown ; leaves when young linear, 2 inches or more i'n length and s inch
wide, spine-tipped; these replaced on the later flowering branches by
sharp stiff spines in clusters of :i. Flowers purplish, solitary in the axils,
with a spiny bract each side; calyx membranous, very strongly veined.

Fig. 38. (AfterSelby.)

72

THE INDIAN" A WEED BOOK.

Seeds light yellow, conical, about the size of clover seed and usually
covered with a gray coating. (Fig. 39.)

Occurs sparingly in the north-
ern third of the State; there in-
troduced by the trunk-line rail-
ways from the northwest, where
it is a very troublesome weed in
prairie grain fields. . July-Sept.
It is a tumble-weed, not a thistle,
and when full grown becomes
very large and spreading, form-
ing a top from 2 to 6 feet in dia-
meter. When broken off it is
rolled over and over by the wind,
scattering far and wide its many
seeds. Remedies: pulling, spud-
ding or uprooting before seeding;
cultivating hoed crops until Au-
gust; burning wheat stubble and
other areas where it grows ; sow-
ing forage crops and pasturing
with sheep. Farmers living along
railways should keep an especial
lookout for the Russian thistle and should destroy at once every
strange weed which bears any resemblance to the description given.
It is estimated that a single specimen produces from 20,000 to 30,-
000 seeds, so that if only one matures its seeds the farmers for
miles around will suffer in a vear or two.

Fig. 39. a, branch of the mature plant; b, seed-
ling; c, flower; d, flower * iewed from above and in
front; e, seed; f, embryo removed from the seed.
(After Dewey.)

THE AMARANTH FAMILY.— AMARANTHACE.E.

Homely herbs with alternate or opposite simple leaves. Flow-
ers small, green or white, variously clustered, usually in terminal
spikes or axillary heads and differing from those of the preceding
family in being surrounded by thin dry and membranous per-
sistent bracts which are often colored ; petals none ; calyx 2-5
parted, the parts usually distinct ; stamens 1-5, mostly opposite
the calyx lobes; ovary 1 -celled. Fruit a utricle of which the cap
comes away as a lid or bursts irregularly. (Fig. 14, e.)

Only 11 species of the family are known from the State, all of
which are weeds of high or low degree. The showy coxcombs,
prince's feathers and "love lies bleeding" of the flower gardens
are cultivated representatives. The name Amaranthus means

WEEDS OF THE AMARANTH FAMILY.

"never fading" and was given these flowers by the Greeks on ac-
count of the dry unwithering nature of the showy bracts. In
Europe they are regarded as emblems of immortality, a quality set
forth by Milton in the lines wherein he speaks of the angels as-
sembled before the Deity :

"To the ground,

With solemn adoration, down they cast

Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold.

Immortal amaranth, a flower which once

In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,

Began to bloom."

oU. AMAKANTHUS HETROFLEXUS L. Rough Pigweed. (A. I. 1.)

Stem stout, branched, light green, erect or ascending, 1-X feet high
from a pink tap-root; lower leaves ovate, long-stemmed, the upper lanceo-
late, pointed. Flowers green in dense sessile, terminal or axillary spikes
which are often 4 inch thick ; bracts awl-shaped, twice as long as the 5
oblong, spine-tipped sepals. Fruit or utricle thin, slightly shorter than
the sepals, the top falling away as a lid. Seeds very small, round, lens
shaped, dark brown, smooth and shining.

Abundant throughout the State in gardens, waste places and
cultivated fields. July-Oet. Occurring with the rough pigweed

in gardens, and perhaps more com-
mon, is the slender pigweed or red-
root (A. hybridus L., Fig 4-0.) It is
also known as careless weed and dif-
fers in having the stem more slender,
often purplish, and springing from
a spindle-shaped purplish root, the
leaves smaller, bright green, wavy
margined and long stalked, and the
spikes much more slender, not over
^ inch thick, somewhat spreading or
drooping. Both species are often at-
tacked by a white mold that also at-
tacks beets. The seeds of both ripen
in early autumn, occur with those of
grain and grass, and are blown far
and wide over the snow. Remedies :
shallow cultivation ; thorough removal
before seeding of the weeds in corn
and potato fields and gardens; burn-
ing or pulling the seed-bearing plants from waste places, and
from fields before fall plowing.

Fig. 40. 2 and 3, flowers; 4, utricle closed
5, same with lid off. (After Vasey.)

74

THE INDIANA AVHKD BOOK.

Fig. 41. (After Vasey.)

31. AMARANTHUS SPINOSTS L. Spiny

Ainanintli. lied or Spiny Careless
Weed. Sol dier- weed. (A. I. 1.)
Stem more branched and spreading.
1-4 feet high, often becoming red in age ;
leaves with a pair of stiff, sharp spines,
i-1 inch long, in the axils. Flowers in
both axillary clusters and terminal droop-
ing spikes. Seeds round. lens-shai>ed.
dark, very small, shining. (Fig. 41.)

Common in waste places, borders
of fields, alleys and roadsides in the
southern two-thirds of the State.
June-Oct. Occurs especially in and
nofir towns and cities along the Ohio
and Wabash rivers Remedies the
same as for the common pigweeds.

32. AMARANTHUS BLITOIDES Wats. Pros-

trate 1'igweed. Low Amaranth.
(A. I. 2.)

Stem prostrate or spreading, pale
green, 6-24 inches long: leaves spoon-
shai>ed or narrowed below into slender stalks. Flowers of this and the
next species hi small axillary clusters which are shorter than the leaf-
stalks; bracts awl-shaped, but little longer than the sepals. Fruit a utri'cle
opening by a lid as in the other species. Seeds rounded, lens-shaped. 1/16
inch in diameter dark brown, shining.

Frequent along railways and in waste places in cities and
towns. June-Oct. Spreading like purslane and often forming
mats. Remedies the same

33. AMARANTHUS GB.ECIZANS L. Tumble-weed. White I'igweed. (A.I.I.)
Stem erect, bushy branched, whitish. (!-24 inches tall ; leaves oblong,
spoon-shaped, slender stalked. Flowers as in the prostrate pigweed, the
bracts much longer than the sepals. Seeds one-half as huge and with a
distinct wing-like border.

Frequent throughout the State along roadsides, railways and in
old fields. June-Oct. The leaves fall away in autumn and the
branches bend in, forming a globular mass which is broken off and
rolled along before the wind, thus widely scattering the seeds. One
such weed, 5 feet 7 inches in circumference, was seen in Vigo
County. From the Russian thistle, which has similar habits of
seed distribution, this true tumble-weed may be known by its much
wider leaves and small, round and shining seeds. Remedies the
same as for the rough pigweed.

WEEDS OF THE POKEWEED FAMILY.

75

THE POKEWEED FAMILY.- PHYTOLACCACEJE.

Tall perennial herbs, with large alternate ovate-oblong leaves
and small flowers in terminal racemes, which by the farther growth
of the stem become opposite the leaves. Petals none; sepals 4 or 5
white; stamens 10; ovary green, 10-celled, each cell with a single
seed. Fruit a globose fleshy berry.

Only one member of the family occurs in Indiana, though 85
species are known, mostly from the tropics.

*>4. PIIYTOLACCA DKCANDRA L. Pokeweed. Poke-berry. Scoke. Pigeon -

beiry. Ink-berry. (P. X. 2.)

Stem stout, smooth, erect, branching, .H-12 feet high; leaves entire,
i>-12 inches long. Berries in racemes like those of a grape, dark purple
and filled with crimson juice. Seeds black, shining, roundish or kidney-
shaped. (Fig. 42.)

This large well known weed occurs throughout the State in rich
soil along the borders of old fields, fence-rows, roadsides, etc. June-
Sept. Its reddish-purple stems,
dark green leaves, clusters of
white flowers and dark purple
berries make of it a handsome
weed — if a weed can be so
termed. I have often found
the small, shining black seeds
beneath logs and stones where
they have been carried by mice
or shrews, and have frequently
mistaken them for the heads of
dead beetles. The stem springs
from, a large poisonous root,
often 4-6 inches in diameter,
and the young stems and
leaves are sometimes used for
greens or eaten like asparagus.
If so used, care should be ta-

Fig.42. Flowering and fruiting branch. (After keil t() Separate all parts of the

root and the water, in which

the shoots are first boiled, should be rejected. The whole plant
has a strong unpleasant odor and the pith of the hollow stem is in
flat disks separated from each other by cavities. Remedies: grub-
bing or cutting below the top of the root ; repeated mowing and
salting.

76

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Both roots and berries of the pokcweed are used in medicine.
A Ken tuck\r boy whom the writer knew ate the berries for cramp
in the stomach, claiming that they were a certain cure. If gathered
for sale they should be collected in autumn and the clusters of
berries dried in the shade, while the roots should be cleaned, cut
crosswise into slices and carefully dried. They act upon the
bowels and cause in time violent vomiting. Extracts made from
them are used for itch, other skin diseases and rheumatism. The
dried root brings from 2 to 5 cents and the berries about 5 cents
per pound.

THE CARPET-WEED FAMILY.— AIZOACE^.

Prostrate, and branching herbs, with small whitish flowers
borne in the axils of the whorled leaves. Petals none; calyx

5-parted : stamens 3-5 ; ovary 3-
celled, forming in fruit a capsule
which splits lengthwise. Seeds very
small, kidney-shaped and marked
with lines.

35. MOLLUGO VERTICILLATA L. Carpet-
weed. Indian Cliickweed. (A.
N. 2.)

Stem spreading and forming circa
lar mats, sometimes 2 feet in diameter ;
leaves in whorls of fives or sixes,
spoon-shaped or linear, entire. Sepals
oblong, white on the inner side, shorter
than the egg-shaped capsules which are
many seeded. (Fig. 43.)

Frequent in bare sandy spots, cultivated fields and gardens, and
springing from the cracks between bricks in sidewalks. May-Get.
Remedies : pulling or hoe-cutting before the seeds ripen ; sowing
winter annuals after corn and potatoes.

THE PURSLANE FAMILY.— PORTULACACE.E.

Fleshy tasteless herbs with entire leaves. Flowers regular,
sepals 2 ; petals 4 or 5 ; stamens 5-20 ; styles 2-8 united below the
middle. Pod 1 -ceiled, with few or many seeds rising on stalks
from the base. Only 6 species of the family are listed from the
State, two of which, called "spring beauties," are among the earli-
est and prettiest of our springtime wild flowers. Here belongs also
the cultivated portulaca and the following common garden weed :

Fig. 43. Showing a flower and a cross-section
of fruit. (After Britton and Brown.)

WEED?! OF TTTK PURSLANE FAMILY.

£0. PORTULACV OLERACEA L. Purslane. Pussley. (A. I. 1.)

Prostrate, smooth, freely branching from a deep central root ; branches
4-10 inches long; leaves alternate, wedge-shaped, rounded at apex. Flow-
ers pale yellow, sessile in the axils. Pods globular, opening by a little lid.
Si1* 'ds very small, black, kidney-shaped, marked with a line network.
(Figs. 13, c; 44.)

Very common in gardens, dooryards and cultivated grounds,
especially in sandy and rich soils. May— Nov. Flowers numerous,

opening only in the
morning sunshine, then
closing once for all. In
England purslane is used
extensively as a pot-herb
and for salads, and serves
as does parsley to garnish
dishes of meats, etc.
Hogs everywhere are
very fond of it. It is at-
tacked by a white mold
which in rainy seasons
serves to keep it in check.
Beneath its fleshy foliage
it harbors insects of
many kinds, among
which are the melon
plant louse and the corn-
root louse. Onion and
melon raisers have much
trouble with it, as it
grows rapidly and ripens its seeds after cultivation of the crops
has ceased. Remedies : close hoe cultivation, especially very early
and again late in the season; seeding with winter annuals after
hood crops.

Fig. 44. 1, seed; 2, fruit or pyxis closed; 3, same open.
(After Vasey.)

THE PINK FAMIIA.— CARYOPHYLLACE.K.

Annual or perennial herbs with the joints of the stems often
swollen and sometimes sticky; leaves opposite, entire. Flowers
usually either solitary on long peduncles or numerous in flat-
topped cymes ; sepals 4 or 5, separate or united into a tube ; petals
as many as the sepals or none ; stamens twice as many as sepals or
fewer; pistils 1, 1 -celled, the ovules united to a central column.
Fruit usually a capsule opening by valves on the sides.

78

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

About 30 species of the family grow wild in the State, and
mostly belong to two groups, viz.: (a) the cockles which have the
sepals united into a tube, many of them being also called "catch-
flies," on account of the sticky or viscid secretions on joints of
stems or calyx which they exude to present ants, small beetles and
other honey-eating intruders which cannot pollenize from creep-
ing up the stalks; (ft) the duckweeds and sandworts, small white-
flowered herbs abundant in woods and along the margins of lakes
and streams, and having the sepals distinct or united only at the
base. With us only 4 members of the family are as yet trouble-
some.

ST. AGROSTEMMA G mi AGO L. Corn Cockle. Purple Cockle. (A. I. 1.)

Stem erect, 1-3 feet high, simple
or with few erect branches, clothed
with long, soft appressed hairs; leaves
linear, acute. Flowers solitary on long
axillary peduncles; petals pink or
purple- red, showy ; calyx lobes linear,
much longer than the petals. Seeds
black, kidney-shaped, J inch across,
prettily marked with spiny ribs. (Fig.
45.)

Common in grain fields, espe
cially those of wheat and rye ; also
along railways, fence-rows, etc.
May-Sept. The seed contains a
poisonous principle, and if bread
be made of flour containing a high
percentage of the ground seed it is
often fatal to poultry and domestic
animals, and in man produces a
great irritation of the digestive or-
gans. Remedies for the weed:

hand pulling or spudding from the wheat fields intended for seed ;

careful screening of seed wheat, using a screen of 8 meshes to the

inch; proper rotation of crops.

38. SILENE ANTIRRHINA L. Sleepy Catchfly. Tarry Cockle. (A. N. 2.)
Stem slender, erect or ascending, simple or branched above, 8-30
inches high ; basal and lower leaves spoon-shaped, narrowed into a stalk.
1-2 inches long; upper leaves linear and gradually reduced to awl-shaped
bracts. Flowers in a loose terminal cluster; calyx egg-shaped, much en-
larged by the ripening pod, its teeth acute; petals pink, broader and
notched above. Seeds dark brown, kidney-shaped, marked with rows of
minute tubercles.

Fig. 45. a, sprays showing flowers and
seed capsule; b, seed three times natural size.
(After Chesnut.)

WEEDS OF THE PINK FAMILY. 79

Frequent in light or sandy soils, especially in grain fields or
waste places. Apr.-Sept. The stem is dark and viscid or sticky at
or just below each joint and the flowers open for a short time only
in sunshine. The seeds are frequent among those of clover or
grass and in southwestern Indiana the plant is very common in
wheat and rye. Remedies: sowing clean seed; pulling when not
too common, to prevent the ripening of the seed ; increased fertili-
zation.

The sticky cockle or night-flowering catchfly (8. noctiflora L.)
having 3 styles and large yellowish-white or pinkish petals, and the
white cockle or white campion (Lychnis alba Mill.) with 5 styles
and pure white petals, are two other members of the family re-
corded from the State which may develop into troublesome weeds,
as they have done elsewhere. Both have sticky stem-joints and
large blossoms which open only at night.

"In addition to the sticky gum the stem of these catchflies is
more or less covered with fine hairs, both of which characters aid
them in baffling unwelcome wingless visitors, while the long tubes of
the corollas effectually keep out all flying insects except the few
whose visits the plants desire. As if so many precautions were not
enough the mouths of the tubes above the stamens are obstructed
by five little valves or scales, one being attached to the claw of each
petal. These scales can be easily bent down by the large and long
proboscis of bees and moths but not by the little thieving flies
against whose incursions the flowers are so anxious to guard them-
selves." — Grant Allen.

?{). SAPONARIA OFFICINALIS L. Bouncing Bet. Soapwort. Hedge Pink.

(P. I. 2.)

Erect, smooth, sparingly branched. 1-2 feet high ; leaves ovate or oval,
2 ,'> inches long, 1 inch wide. Flowers large, showy, pinkish or white, in
dense terminal clusters. Seeds black, smooth, kidney-shaped with a beak
1/10 inch long. (Fig. 10, a.)

Throughout the State, escaped from gardens and rapidly be-
coming an annoying weed, especially in sandy cultivated fields and
along banks and railways. June- Sept. This buxom country
cousin of the carnation spreads by underground stems and is
therefore difficult to eradicate. The juice of the stem, when mixed
with water, produces a soapy effect and has cleansing qualities,
whence the generic name. "Remedies: mowing twice each season
for a year or two just before flowering; salting in early spring;
cultivation, especially hoeing.

80

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Fig. 46. Showing flower, fruit and seed.
(After Britton and Brown.)

40. ALSINE MEDIA L. Common Chickweed. (A. I. 2.)

Spreading or half erect, tufted, much branched, 4-12 inches long.
smooth except a line of hairs along the stem; leaves oval, £ to 2J inches

long, the upper sessile. Flowers very
small, white, the petals 2-parted, shorter
than the calyx. Capsule egg-shaped,
longer than the calyx ; seeds brown,
kidney-shaped, flattened, 1/24 inch
across, the sides coarsely tuberculate.
(Figs. 12, 7t and 40.)

Frequent in rich moist soil in
gardens, lawns, meadows and pas-
tures. Jan.— Dec. A winter annual,
blooming at all seasons. In some
plaees used as a barometer as it ex-
pands its flowers fully when fine
weather is to follow but "if it
should shut up, then the traveler is
to put on his great coat." In Eu-
rope it is much used for feeding
cage-birds, which are very fond of both seed and leaves. Remedies :
early and thorough spring cultivation; reseeding lawns; crowd-
ing out by some winter-growing crop, as rye or crimson clover.

THE CROWFOOT OR BUTTERCUP FAMILY.— RANUNCULACEJE.

Annual or perennial herbs with acrid sap ; leaves usually alter-
nate, often compound. Flowers with the parts all distinct and
unconnected; petals 3-15, sometimes wanting, in which case the
calyx is colored like the corolla ; sepals the same number, often
falling when unfolding; stamens numerous; ovaries 1— many, 1-
celled, usually 1-seeded. Fruit of our w-eeds an achene. (Fig.
14, /, </.)

About 50 species of the family occur in Indiana. Among them
are many of our common wild flowers of early spring and summer,
as the liverworts, marsh-marigolds, larkspurs, columbines, bane-
berries, anemones, clematis, buttercups and meadow-rues. Most of
these are harmless plants, covering the bare places of mother earth
with their green leaves and posies gay. "With us only one may as
yet be listed as a wreed, though others of its kind occasionally
spread in low, wet pastures.

41. RANUNCULUS ABORTIVUS L. Small-flowered Crowfoot. Kidney-leaved

Crowfoot. (B. N. 3.)
Stem erect, branching, glabrous; root-leaves thick, kidney- or heart-

WEEDS OP THE CROWFOOT FAMILY.

81

shaped, long-stalked, toothed or eremite; stem leaves sessile, divided into
8-5 oblong or linear lobes. Flowers very small ; petals yellow, oblong,

shorter than the reflexed lobes of calyx.

Head of fruit globose.

Common in moist soil, in woods,
meadows, gardens, lawns and culti-
vated fields. March-Sept. Espe-
cially troublesome to strawberry
growers and owners of well kept
lawns. Remedies: pulling and hoe
cutting; drainage; thorough culti-
vation.

The hooked crowfoot (R. rccur-
vatus Poir.), having the kidney -
shaped leaves all lobed and divided,
the plant more or less pubescent and
the beaks of the achenes strongly
hooked, is also common in woods and
pastures. The tall or meadow but-
tercup (R. acris L., Fig. 47), with
the flowers large, showy yellow, 1
inch broad, calyx spreading and
roots fibrous, occurs frequently in moist meadows and pastures and
is in some States a pernicious weed. Its juice is very acrid and
stock give it a wide range. Remedies the same.

THE MUSTARD FAMILY.— CRUCIFER.E.

Herbs, mostly annual or biennial, with a pungent peppery
juice; leaves alternate, usually narrow and deeply lobed, often
forming a rosette at the surface of the ground, from which spring
the slender flowrer-bearing stems. Flowers usually in racemes,
white or yellow in color ; sepals 4 ; petals 4, generally narrowed at
base arid placed opposite each other in pairs; stamens usually 6T
4 long, 2 short; pistils 1, 2-celled. Fruit a silique which varies
greatly in form and size and bears numerous seeds. (Fig. 14, i.)

About 55 species of the family are known from the State, most
of which are weeds. They may usually be easily recognized by the
sepals and petals being in fours, in opposite pairs, thus forming a
cross — whence the family name Cruc-ifcrrp. On the long racemes
the flowers are issually to be found in all stages, from the unopened
buds above to the ripened seed-pods below. When crushed the
foliage often gives off a decided odor, Those which are weeds

Fig. 47. Tall or meadow buttercup. (After
Vasey.)

Jr.]

si

THE INDIANA WHEl) BOOK.

occur mostly in grain fields, gardens, lawns and meadows. Many
of the seeds have an oily covering which prevents decay and enables
them to retain vitality for years, Cultivated members are cabbage,
turnip, cauliflower and radish.

42. LEPIDIUM VIBGIXICUM L. Wild Pepper-grass. Tongue-grass. (Canary-

grass. (A. N. 2.)

Erect, smooth, much branched, 0-15 inches high ; leaves tai>ering to
base, the upi>er linear or lanceolate, entire; lower spoon-shaped, more or
less notched on sides. Flowers small, white; stamens only '2. Pods
small, rounded or oval, notched at tip; seeds light brown, flattened, 1/10
inch wide, half as long, egg-shaped with a very distinct border. (Fig. 48.)

Common everywhere in dooryards, waste grounds, fields and
gardens. April-Oct. Very troublesome at times in clover, espe-

cially in light sandy soil after the
first crop is cut ; the seeds separable
from those of the clover only by care-
ful screening. Many of the seeds
germinate in autumn forming flat ro-
settes with a single central tap-root,
from which the flowers and seeds of
early spring are produced. Spar-
rows of all kinds are very fond of
the pods and eat vast numbers of
them. Remedies: thorough and con-
tinuous cultivation; disc harrowing
in late fall or early spring ; hand pull-
ing from lawns; spraying.

The apetalous pepper-grass (L.
«/*'«'«»» Willd.), basal leaves more
cut-lobed and petals minute or want-
ing, and the field pepper-grass (L. campestre L.), downy or hoary
pubescent, leaves clasping the stem, pod spoon-shaped, both occur
in the State and will be more common. Remedies the same.

48. SISYMBBIUM OFFICINALE L. Hedge Mustard. (A. I. 2.)

Erect with rigid spreading branches. 1-3 feet high ; leaves cut-lobed,
the lower segments turned backward, the upper leaves nearly sessile.
Flowers small, pale yellow. Pods slender, erect, awl-shaped, * inch long,
pressed closely against the stem ; seeds brown, oblong, cylindrical on back,
grooved on the other side, 1/10 inch long, one-third as wide.

Common in waste places and fallow or abandoned fields. April-
Dec. The seed occurs in clover and grass seed and hay. Remedies :
frequent mowing; increased fertilization and cultivation. It, as

WEEDS OP THE MUSTARD FAMILY.

well as the next two species, are hosts for the "club-root fungus"
which attacks cabbage and turnips and all three should therefore

be kept away from these vege-
tables.

Differing in having cream
colored flowers and much longer,
widely spreading pods is a
closely allied species, the tum-
bling mustard (S. altissimum
L., Fig. 49), a European plant
which is a bad weed in the
grain fields of Canada and the
Northwestern States. In Indi-
ana it has been recorded from
six counties and will doubtless
be found to be frequent in the
northern portion, especially
along the trunk line railways.
The pods are 2-4 inches long
and each one contains 120 or

Fig. 49. Tumbling mustard; a, base of stem of annual rnore <jpprl«f On n ^ino'lp nl'int
plant; b, one of the lower leaves; c, flower X Vfa d, ] CLS<

branch with flower and pods. (After Dewey.) 12,500 pods WCFC OUCC COUnted,

so that that plant alone produced 1,500,000 seeds. When the seed?
are ripe the whole head of the plant breaks off and, as a tumble-
weed, it may in winter be blown for miles, scattering a few seeds
in many places. It is liable to be introduced anywhere in baled
hay, and is especially liable to be found about elevators and railway
yards. Isolated plants should be pulled before the seeds ripen. If
in numbers they should be mowed or cut with hoe in June and
again in August.

44. BRASSICA ARVENSIS L. Charlock. Wild Mustard. (A. I. 1.)

Erect, branching above, 1-2 feet high ; rough with scattered stiff
hairs; lower leaves stalked, cut-lobed ; upper ones mostly sessile, feebly
notched or entire. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Pods long, cylindrical,
knotty, lx>me on stout steins and with a long two-edged beak which is
empty or 1 -seeded ; seeds 15 or more in a pod, spherical, larger than those
of the black mustard. (Fig 50.)

Frequent in the southern half of State, less so in northern
counties. May-Sept. Occurs in meadows and grain fields, espe-
cially those of oats, the seeds remaining with them when threshed.
The seeds have great vitality, often remaining buried for years or
until conditions are right for successful growth. It grows very

84

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Fig. 50. (After Vassy.)

same

rapidly and matures an immense number of seeds. Remedies :
clean seed; surface burning in fall or spring; hand pulling and

cultivation of hoed crops; spraying
with iron sulphate (copperas) solu-
tion; harrowing stubble as soon as
crop is cut to start a rapid autumn
growth of the weed, then feeding off
with sheep ; harrowing young wheat
in autumn after it has a good start.

45. BRASSICA NIGRA L. Black Mustard.

(A. I. ?,)

Erect, tall, 2-7 feet high, prickly with
short stiff hairs; lower leaves with a
large terminal and 1-A smaller lateral
lobes. Flowers yellow. Pods erect, closely
appressed to stem, 4-sided, smooth, \ inch
long, ending in a slender beak ; seeds dark
brown, very pungent, 1/25 of an inch
long, globular, finely pitted. (Fig. 51.)

Common in fields and waste places. June-Nov. Remedies
as for charlock.

The seeds of both this and the
white mustard (Sinapis albalj.) when
ground are used extensively in medi-
cine for plasters, poultices, emetics,
etc. More than 5 million pounds are
imported each year, the price aver-
aging about 5 cents per pound. The
white mustard is a smaller plant, 1-2
feet high, flowers larger and paler yel-
low, the pods rough-hairy, with long,
flat sword-shaped beaks; seeds pale
yellow, smooth, larger and less pun-
gent than those of the black mustard.
In collecting the seeds for sale the
tops should be pulled when most of
the pods are ripe but before they be-
gin to burst open, placed on a clean
dry floor or shelf until fully ripe,
then shaken over a sheet or canvas. Fig. 51.

40. BURSA BURSA-PASTORIS L,. Shepherd's Purse. Mother's Heart. (A. I. 1.)

Erect, branching, 0-20 inches high ; lower leaves tufted, forming a

rosette, cut-lobed or toothed like those of the dandelion; stem leaves few,

WEEDS OF TTTE MUSTARD FAMILY.

85

arrow-shaped. Flowers small, white. Pods heart-shaped or triangular,
broad at top, notched at apex then narrowed to base, borne on slender
stalks; seeds numerous, light brown, oblong, 1/20 inch in length, half as
wide. (Fig. 52.)

Common everywhere in waste places, gardens and old cultivated
fields. March 10-Nov. 25. A winter annual whose green rosettes

are very pretty at that season, but
Avhose spreading stems become an
eyesore in early spring. It is also
a host for the club-root fungus. At
all times of the year and every-
where, when it is not actually freez-
ing, this plant is growing. Each
pod contains about 20 seeds. When
put in water they, as well as those
of most other mustards, produce a.
large amount of mucilage and a
covering of rather long and very
fine transparent hairs. This, by ad-
hesion to passing objects, aids in
their distribution. A single plant
will ripen 20,000 of the seeds, so
that it has enormous power of
propagation. It will thrive any-
where, sometimes taking entire
(After possession of the soil from which it
draws a large amount of moisture.
Remedies: constant hoeing and cultivation; hand pulling from
lawns ; plowing or disk harrowing in late autumn ; spraying with
iron sulphate solution; cutting out the fall rosettes with hoe or
spud.

The name "mother's heart" is common in England. The chil-
dren hold out the seed pouch to their companions inviting them to
"take a hand o' that." It immediately cracks, and then follows
the triumphant shout "you've broken your mother's heart." In
Switzerland the same plant is offered to a person with the request
to pluck one of the pods. Should he do so the onlookers exclaim:
"you have stolen a purse of gold from your father and mother."

THE ROSE FAMILY.— ROSACES.

Herbs, shrubs or trees with regular perfect flowers; leaves al-
ternate, simple or compound, with stipules usually present. Calyx
5-lobed with the disc of the flower firmly attached ; petals equal in

Fig. 52. a, seed natural size; b, same X 6.
Selby.)

86 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

number to the calyx lobes and distinct, or none ; stamens numerous,
distinct ; ovaries 1-many, 1-celled. Fruit of various forms, mostly
capsules opening by a single valve, or achenes.

A large and important family which formerly included the
apples, pears, cherries, etc. Recently, however, it has been divided
into three families, the Rosacea? as above restricted; the Pomacea4,
including the apples, pears, June-berries and red-haws; and the
Drupacea1, comprising the plums, cherries and peaches. To the
Rosaceie, as now defined, belong the meadow-sweets, raspberries
blackberries, strawberries, cinquefoils, avens, agrimonies, roses and
many other forms. About 50 members of the family are known to
grow wild in Indiana, but only a. few of them intrude upon culti-
vated or pasture lands in such numbers as to be called weeds, and
of those which do none belong to the weeds of the first class.

47. RUBUS ALLEGHENIENSIS Porter. Wild Blackberry. Common Brier.

Bramble. (P. N. 3.)

Shrubby, branched, erect or recurved, 3-10 feet high, armed with
stout recurved prickles; leaves compound; leaflets 3-o, ovate, pubescent
beneatb, coarsely toothed. Flowers white, terminal. Fruit a collection of
small black drupes persistent on a fleshy receptacle, broadly oval, very
pulpy.

This and several closely allied species of high blackberries are
found throughout the State, being much more abundant on the hill
slopes of the southern half. They occur mostly in poor clayey soil
along roadsides, fence-rows and in old neglected fields and pastures,
often taking complete possession of the ground. It is only where
by neglect the bushes are allowed to spread that they become a nui-
sance and crowd out the blue-grass and other forage crops. A rust
and numerous insects that prey upon cultivated barries are har-
bored by the wild canes, so that the two should not be allowed to
grow in close proximity. Remedies : mowing several times in late
summer; increased fertilization and cultivation.

Flowering in June, the fruit of the blackberry is ripe in July
and August, and where desired for the table a few of the bushes
are a valuable asset to the farm. These berries are the fruit of
the earth, an offering of nature in her generous moods, her dessert
of wild fruit, freely given, than which there is no better. Out of
the clay and other materials of poor hillside soils the blackberry
canes do fashion through the chemistry of their cells, this juicy
pulp, sweeten it to our tastes, then offer it free for the taking. Is
it not a miracle of nature, a miracle greater than any accredited to
man, this juggling of earthy ingredients, this producing of luscious

WEEDS OF THE ROSE FAMILY.

87

berries by these thorny brambles? Moreover, they offer us a cure
for over-eating, for a decoction made by steeping an ounce of the
root in a pint of water is a valuable remedy in dysentery, cholera
infantum and other bowel troubles.

However, it is not so much for humans as for birds that this
fruit is produced by the blackberry canes. Each of the little fruits,
which are clustered together around the fleshy receptacle, is in
reality a nut which has clothed itself in an outer coat of sweet
colored pulp, This pulp is a bonus which the plant throws in to
induce the bird to swallow the nut. Within the nutlets, and pro-
tected by their hard indigestible stones or shells, are the true seeds
which are scattered far and wide by the birds. The same plan o('
surrounding the nut by juicy pulp is seen in the peach, plum and
cherry, where it is more evident to sight on account of the larger
size of the nut or so-called seed.

The dewberry or low running blackberry (R. procumbens Muhl.)
is very common in old meadows and dry upland fields in southern
Indiana. Its long trailing stems ofte'n become mixed with the hay
*:rid so prove a great nuisance to haymakers and barefooted boys.
Remedies the same.

48. POTENTILLA cANADENsis L. Common Ciiiqiiefoil. Five-finger. (1*. X. 3.)
Stems half erect or prostrate, 8 inches to 2 feet long, spreading by

slender runners ; leaves composed of 5 leaflets which are digitate or spring-
ing from a common point; these ob-
long, obtuse at apex, cut-toothed.
Flowers axillary, solitary, yellow,
showy; petals broadly oval; stamens
about 20. Achenes numerous, smooth.
(Figs. 0, 1)', 53.)

Common in diy soils, espe-
cially in old "worn-out" fields in
southern Indiana ; much less so in
the northern portions. May-July.
Often called "wild strawberry,"
which its foliage closely resembles,
but the fruit not fleshy. It is
especially prevalent on sloping hill-
sides in company with the dew-
berry, blackberry, mull en, etc. Its
presence indicates that the soil is
sterile or lacking in some element of fertility. Remedies: fertiliza-
tion and cultivation with forage plants, as clover or cow-peas;
sheep-grazing.

Fig. 53. (After Watson.)

88 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

The rough or tall cinquefoil (P. monspeliensis L.), stem 1-3
feet high, erect, rough-pubescent, leaflets 3, flowers small, yellow,
numerous in terminal cymes, is frequent in moist soils throughout
the State, being especially troublesome in clover fields. It flowers
from June to August. Remedies: close cutting in spring or early
summer : cultivation.

THE PEA FAMILY.— PAPILIONACE^E.

Herbs, shrubs, vines or trees with alternate, mostly compound,
stipulate leaves. Flowers butterfly-shaped, like those of the sweet
pea, mainly in spikes, heads or racemes; calyx 4-5-toothed or cleft;
petals usually consisting of a broad upper one (the standard or
banner), two side ones (the wings), and two lower or front ones,
more or less united (the keel) ; stamens 5-10, all united at the base
into one group (monodelphous) ; two groups (diadelphous), or
separate; ovary usually 1-celled, containing 1 to many ovules.
Fruit a pod, 1 to many seeded, usually splitting into 2 valves.
(Figs. 9, c, d- H, c; 14, k, L)

A large family, of which the peas, beans and clovers are fa-
miliar and important cultivated members. All have the fruit in
the form of legumes or pods which vary much in size and shape.
Rarely, as in alfalfa, they are coiled like snail shells; again they
are like the achenes of buttercups but differ in opening down both
sides to release the seeds. In one group, the trefoils and bush
clovers, they are broken up into joints, each joint containing a
single seed; in most species, however, they are like those of the
pea. or bean. To the farmer the members of the pea family are
especially important, since they harbor on the roots bacteria which
produce small nodules (Fig. 7.) enabling the plants to gather
and store nitrogen from the air. It is this stored nitrogen which
renders clover, cow-peas, etc., such valuable fertilizers. About 90
members of the family are known from the State, a half dozen or
so of which may be classed as weeds.

41). CASSIA MARYLANDICA L. Wild Senna. (P. N. 3.)

Erect or spreading, often branched, 3-8 feet high; leaves pinnate;
leaflets 12-20, oblong, obtuse, 1-2 inches long; flowers not butterfly-
shaped but nearly regular, yellow, showy, in upper axillary racemes ;
ivotals 5, nearly equal ; stamens 10, separate, the upper 3 imperfect. Pod
linear, curved, 3-4 inches long. ^ inch wide. Seeds hard, gray, 3/10 of an
inch long, half as wide. (Fig. 54.)

Abundant on moist hillsides, in lowland meadows and pastures
and along sand and gravel bars in the southern half of the State ;

WEEDS OF THE PEA FAMILY.

89

less common northward. June-Sept. In the shape of the flowers

the wild senna, partridge pea, red-bud, Kentucky coffee tree and a

few others differ in that the up-
per petal or standard is en-
closed by the wings in the bud,
whereas in the pea family
proper the standard overlaps or
encloses the wings. The wild
senna spreads by deep perennial
roots and often densely covers
large areas. Remedies: mow-
ing before the flowers blossom,
two or three times each season;
cutting with hoe or spud and
salting.

The partridge pea (C. cham-
cecrista L.) is another senna,
which differs in its smaller size,
much smaller leaflets which
close when touched, petals often
with a purple spot at base, and
straight pods. It occurs in dry

or sandy soil in the southern half of the State. Remedies : cutting

and burning before the seeds mature.

50. MEDICAGO LUPULINA L. Black or Hop

Medic. Prostrate Yellow Clover.

Nonesuch. (A. I. 3.)
Branched at the base, the branches
prostrate and spreading, 1-2 feet long ;
leaflets 3, clover-like, obovate or oval, cre-
nate. Flowers small, bright yellow, in
dense oblong heads or short spikes; sta-
mens 10 in two sets, 0 and 1. Pods
black, curved backward upon the stem,
1-seeded. Seeds yellow, similar to but
smaller than those of red clover. (Fig. 55.)

Fig. 54. 1, flower; 2, mature pods. (After Vasey.;

Frequent in dry sterile soil
railways and roadsides and in waste
places in towns and cities. May— Aug.
Valued as forage, but much less so
than the white and red clovers. An
own brother to the alfalfa which be-
longs to the same genus, and its seeds

Fig. 55. (After Smith j

90

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

often mixed with those of alfalfa and clover. Remedies : crowding
out with red clover or cow-peas; increased fertilization.

iil. MELILOTUS ALBA Dosv. White Sweet-clover. White Melilot. Tree

Clover. (B. I. 2.)

Erect or ascending. 3-10 feet high, branching; leaves 3-parted; leaf-
lets oblong, slightly toothed, rounded at tip, f of an inch long. Flowers
white, in slender axillary racemes; standard slightly longer than the
wings; stamens 10, in 2 sets, 9 and 1. Pod egg-shaped. & of an inch long.
Seeds like those of red clover but smaller and flatter. (Fig. 5<>.)

Very common in hard, dry soil along embankments, roadsides,
borders of fields and waste places generally. June-Oct. Some-
times forms dense thickets which, when the
plants are old, are difficult to penetrate. Often
cut and fed green to stock and in some parts of
the south regarded as a valuable forage plant.
If used for hay it should be cut early before the
blossoms appear or the stem becomes too woody.
Remedies : repeated mowing ; cultivation in late
summer; increased fertilization.

The yellow sweet-clover (M. officinalis L.),
2-4 feet high, the flowers yellow, the standard
about equalling the wings, occurs in similar
places but is much less frequent. The leaves of
both are fragrant in drying, hence the name
"sweet-clover." Both are useful as soil indica-
tors and where grown in old roadways or brick-
yards and then turned under aid much in bring-
ing the dry soil into good condition.

Fig. 56. (After Piper.)

52. MEIBOMIA CANESCENS L. Hoary Tick-trefoil.
Seed Ticks. (P. N. 2.)

Erect, much branched, 3-5 feet high, covered with short dense hairs:
leaves stalked, 3-parted; leaflets ovate, blunt-pointed, yellowish-green, 1—1
inches long, the end one the larger; stipules large, ovate, persistent.
Flowers purple in terminal compound racemes; stamens in two sets, 9
and 1. Pod or loment lol>ed on both margins, more deeply below than
above, l-<> jointed, the joints longer than broad, very adhesive. Seeds
lens-shaped, kidney-form, nearly i of an inch long. (Fig. 57.)

Very common along fence-rows, roadsides, borders of thickets,
etc.. especially in low, rich soil. June-Sept. The joints of the pods
break apart easily and are roughened with minute hooked hairs by
which they adhere closely to wool, clothing and fur. thus widely
scattering the enclosed seeds. Remedies: mowing or hoe cutting:
cultivation.

WEEDS OF THE PEA FAMILY.

91

Seventeen species of these tick-trefoils are known from the
State, two or three of which are trailing, the others erect. All have
purplish flowers and jointed pods, the joints varying much in
number, form, size and adhesiveness. (Fig. 14, I.) All are vile
weeds commonly known as "seed ticks,'' though no one of them

is as common as the hoary species
above described. Of them Tho-
reau has written: "Though you
were running for your life they
would have time to catch and
cling to your clothes. They will
even cling to your hand as you go
by. They cling like babes to a
mother's breast, by instinct. I
have often found myself covered,
as it were, with an imbricated
coat of the brown seeds or a
bristling chevaux-de-frise of beg-
gars' ticks and had to spend a
quarter of an hour or more in
(After some convenient spot picking
them off; and so they get just
what they wanted, deposited in some other place. Growing on some
rough cliff side, how surely they prophesy the coming of the trav-
eler, brute or human, that will transport their seeds on his coat."*

THE SPURGE FAMILY.— EUPHORBIACE.E.

Herbs with a milky, acrid juice and small flowers, usually with-
out petals, the sexes of which are often borne on separate plants or
on different parts of the same plant : leaves variable in form, size,
and position on the stems. Flowers, in most of our weeds, within
o:* above a cup-shaped involucre of leaf-like bracts which are often
colored, these involucres usually bearing naked glands. Fruit
mostly a 3-lobed capsule, each cell of which contains a single seed.

A large family, mostly represented in the tropics. The castor-
oil plant and various species of crotons, grown for their showy
leaves and bracts, are cultivated examples. About 20 species grow
wild in Indiana, several of them forming mat plants or disks of
much branched vegetation similar to the carpet-weeds and purs-
lanes but having a milky juice. Others are erect or suberect and
all are separated mainly by the difference in shape and size of leaf.

* Autumn, 38-39,

Fig. 57. Single joint of pod shown below.
Britton and Brown.)

92

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

smoothness or hairiness of stem and character of the surface of the
seeds. Several of them are annoying weeds, especially in lawns.
gardens and along walks. The milky juice of all spurges is said to
"corrode and ulcerate the body wherever applied." As the flower-
ing spurge is often gathered for decorations it is doubtless respon-
sible for many cases of skin poisoning. Coulter states that he has
a record of 23 such cases.

53. ACALYPHA VIKGINICA L. Three-
seeded Mercury. Wax-ball
Copper-leaf. (A. N. 2.)
Erect or ascending. 3 inches to 2
feet high ; leaves dark green often
turning purple, ovate, long-stalked,
1-3 inches long, thin, coarsely cut-
toothed. Male and female flowers
separate but in the same axillary
cluster, the male or sta urinate ones
included in a large leaf-like 5-9-lol»ed
bract ; the female ones at the base of
these. Seeds ovoid, reddish-gray,
1/16 inch long with lengthwise wavy
lines. (Fig. 58.)

Common in low, moist, shaded
places and in rich or sandy soil,

Fig. 58. Seed on left; staminate and pistillate especially about baiTlS and Ollt-
flower surrounded by large lobed bract on right. J

(After Britton and Brown.)

buildings. June-Oct. The

are easly crushed between the fingers, hence the name wax-ball.
They are common in clover seed, from
which they are difficult to separate,
Remedies: pulling or cutting before
the seeds ripen ; thorough cultivation.

54. EUPHORBIA MACULATA L. Spotted
Spurge. Milk Purslane. (A. N. 2.)
Stem more or less hairy, branched
from the base, the branch slender, pros-
trate, spreading, often dark red, 2-15
inches long ; leaves opposite, oblong, ob-
tuse. very oblique at base, short-stemmed,
usually with a brownish-red spot at cen-
ter. Involucre entire. Seeds ovate,
sharply 4-angled, 1/25 of an inch long.
ash-gray with four shallow grooves across
each side. (Figs. f>, <?; 51).)

Fig. 59. Leaf and pistillate flower below; seeds
/-< • i above. (After Britton and Brown.)

Com men in waste places, espe-
cially along gravelly or sandy banks, sidewalks, roadsides, in gar-

WEEDS OF THE SPURGE FAMILY. 93

dents, etc. June-Oct. The plant often forms a handsome circular
mat covering some naked place on the bosom of earth. Remedies :
hoe-cutting or pulling when the first blossoms appear; thorough
cultivation ; burning mature plants.

A closely allied but less common species is the hairy, spreading
spurge (E. humistrata Eng.), which has the involucre split on one
side, stem more hairy, leaves larger, more ovate and more numerous.

55. EUPHORIJIA NUTANS Lag. Large or Upright Spotted Spurge. Stubble

Spurge. (A. N. 2.)

Stein ascending or erect with many side branches, reddish-green, (5-24
inches high; leaves opposite, ovate-oblong, often curved, unequally cut-
toothed, often with reddish margins and a red blotch at center. Seeds
blackish, oblong-oval, 1/1(5 inch long with blunt angles and cross ridges.

Common in dry pastures, along banks, roadsides and waste
places, and especially in sandy stubble-fields. May-Oct. It is sup-
posed to be one of the causes of the salivation or slobbering of
horses, so often noted in late summer. The pods of it and allied
species, when dry, burst with a snapping noise and project the
seeds to a distance of several feet. Remedies the same as for the
spotted spurge; also mowing or burning over stubble fields.

5G EUPHORBIA COROLLATA L. Flowering Spurge. White-topped Spurge.

(P. N. 2.)

Erect, 1-3 feet high, branched above, bright green ; leaves linear or
oblong, the upper ones whorled, the others alternate. Flower stalks

forked and arranged in an umbel at top
of stem; involucres terminal, bearing
4 or 5 yellowish-green oblong glands and
white petal-like bracts. Seeds gray,
1/10 inch long, slightly pitted. (Fig. 60.)

Frequent in poor, dry soils, espe-
cially along sandy banks and road-
sides. May-Oct. When bruised it
exudes a milky, poisonous juice.
Spreads by long stout rootstocks as
well as by seeds. Remedies : re-
peated mowings before the seeds
ripen ; increased fertilization ; thor-
Fig.60. (After vasey.) Ollg]1 cultivation until mid-summer.

The cypress or graveyard spurge (E. cyparissias L.) is a peren-
nial, propagating by rootstocks, which as an escape promises to
spread widely. It is often planted for ornament about country
cemeteries where it grows a foot high in large patches. The leaves

94 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

are linear and the flowers in a terminal umbel. The bracts are
yellowish when in blossom and the plant is poisonous to stock when
eaten in quantity. Wherever found it should be destroyed by re-
peated cutting and salting as it crowds out grass and all other
plants with which it comes in contact.

THE SUMAC FAMILY.— ANACARDIACE.E.

Shrubs or woody vines with acrid, often poisonous, milky sap
and alternate, mostly compound leaves. Flowers in axillary or
terminal panicles; calyx small, 5-parted; petals 5, greenish or yel-
lowish; stamens 5; ovary 1, 1-celled, 1-seeded. Fruit generally a
small drupe.

A small family with little or no economic value, Only six spe-
cies are listed from the State, all sumacs belonging to the genus
Rhus. Two of them produce a nonvolatile oil which is very irri-
tating to the skin, producing blisters and ulcers. The other five
are harmless to the touch. The foliage of one, the smooth sumac
(Rhus glabra L.) is used to same extent in tanning leather. An-
other, the fragrant or sweet-scented sumac, grows only on rocky
banks or cliffs and its foliage gives off a very pleasing odor. No
other plants rival these harmless sumacs in the rich splendor of
their leaves and fruits in the Indian summer of late autumn. Then

"The maples blaze; the tangling sumac shrubs
Of glosving spikes build crimson ladders up
The wall."

They are then easily known by the red clusters of fruit, that of the
poisonous species being grayish-white and the foliage much more
dull.

57. Kir us KADICANS L. Poison Ivy. Poison Oak. Poison Vine. (P. X. 2.)
Stem woody, either climbirg by numerous air rootlets, or bushy and
erect ; leaves 3-parted ; leaflets ovate. i>ointed, entire or toothed. Flowers
green in. loose axillary panicles. Fruit grayish- white, smooth, globular,
1/6 of an inch in diameter. (Fig. Gl.)

Common along fence-rows, borders of fields and thickets. May-
July. Two well known varieties of poison ivy occur in the State.
One is a bushy shrub 2-6 feet high and occurs most .commonly
about old fences and rocky ledges : the other is a vine 80-150 feet
in length, climbing often to the tops of the tallest trees and found
mostly in dry, open woods. The foliage of both is poisonous to
most persons, though some can handle it with impunity. Birds
feed readily upon the fruit and scatter the seeds far and wide.
The poisonous oil is found in all parts of the plant, even in the

WEEDS OF THE SUMAC FAMILY.

95

wood and roots. It is insoluble in water and cannot be washed
from the skin with it alone. The best remedy for the poison is an
alcoholic solution of sugar of lead. This is made by taking a small
bottle of alcohol and putting in it as much of the powdered sugar
of lead as it will dissolve The milky fluid should then be rubbed

into the affected skin three or four
times daily. A water solution of su-
gar of lead wrill do no good and the
alcoholic solution should never be
taken internally as it is a deadly
poison.

Because the poison ivy is a vine of
handsome foliage it is sometimes al-
lowed to grow or is even transplanted
about dwellings and parks. From
the woodbine or Virginia creeper, also
an ornamental vine with 5 leaflets, it
can be at once told by having only 3
leaflets. Any woody vine or low
climbing shrub with 3 leaflets should
at once be destroyed. Remedies :
grubbing and burning, handling the
parts only with hoe or fork, or em-
Fig. 61. a, spray showing aerial rootlets and ploying men wllO are immune to do
leaves; b, clusters of fruit. (After Chesnut.) ,-, _ i

In the tamarack and other marshes of northern Indiana the
second poisonous sumac (R. vernix L.) grows in abundance. It is
a tall shrub or small tree with pinnate leaves of 7 to 13 leaflets and
is, if anything, more poisonous than the 3-leaved ivy. The same
remedy will cure the poison

TUB MALLOW FAMILY.— MALVACEyK.

Herbs or shrubs with alternate stipulate leaves. Flowers reg-
ular, perfect, often large and showy; sepals 5, united at base, often
with a whorl of bractlets beneath the true calyx ; petals 5, usually
twisted in the bud ; stamens numerous, united at base and con-
nected with the base of the petals; ovaries several, arranged in a
ring or forming a several-celled capsule.

A small family of innocent plants, possessing a mucilaginous
juice, tough bark and having the flower stalks axillary and usually
with a joint They are easily known by having the bases of the
stamens united in a tube which surrounds the pistils. The holly-

96

TTfK INDTAKA WEKT) BOOK.

hock, cotton plant and okra are familiar or cultivated forms. The
rose mallows which grow wild along the borders of marshes and
streams produce some of the largest and most handsome of our
wild blossoms. The most common one of these is the halberd-
leaved rose mallow, 4-8 feet high and having the upper leaves
hastate, the large bell-shaped flower pink with a purplish base and
the fruit-pod surrounded by the bladder-like inflated calyx. Only
a dozen species of the mallow family grow wild in the State, three
of which are weeds.

58. MALVA ROTUNDIFOLIA L. Round-leaved Mallow. Low Mallow. Creep-
ing Charley. Cheeses. (P. I. 2.)

Stem branched at the base and
spreading from a deep root, 4-12
inches long ; leaves long-stalked,
rounded or kidney-form, obscurely
5-9-1 obed, the edges scalloped.
Flowers clustered in the axils, pale
blue, $ inch broad; petals oblong.
notched at the end, twice the length
of sepals ; ovaries about 15, rounded
on the back, arranged in a disk.
Seeds brown, kidney-shaped, 1/16
inch across. (Fig. 62.)

Common along roadsides and
in dooryards, gardens and waste
places in cities and towns. May—
Nov. Children often eat the
Fig. 62. (After Clark.) disk-shaped little fruit bodies,

calling them "cheeses," whence the following lines:

"The sitting down when school was o'er
Upon the threshold of the door,
Picking from mallows, sjK>rt to please.
The crumpled seed we call a cheese."

Like other weeds which flourish best in coolpact or trodden ground
this mallow has a long and tapering root. Remedies: pulling or
deep cutting with hoe or spud in lawns and yards ; thorough culti-
vation in gardens and fields.

51). SIDA SPINOSA L. Prickly Sida. Thistle Mallow. (A. I. 2.)

Erect, much branched, soft downy, 8-20 inches high ; leaves ovate-
lanceolate or oblong, scalloped, 1-2 inches long, the stems of the larger
ones with a spine-like tubercle at the base. Flowers small, lemon-yellow,
short-stemmed, axillary. Pods 5, combined into an ovate fruit, each split-
ting at the top into two beaks. Seeds dark brown, triangular, smooth,
not shining. 1/lli inch long. (Fig. (!,'>.)

WEEDS OF THE MALLOW FAMILY.

97

Common in dry, upland, clayey soils in the southern two-thirds
of the State, occurring especially along pasture pathways and road-
sides and in dooryards and barnyards where the ground is com-
pact. April-Nov. An emigrant
from the south, this is fast becom-
ing a common wayside weed. Often
trampled upon by man and beast, it
yet survives and perpetuates its
kind. Scrawny and rough in form
it exemplifies a life of bitter strug-
gle. Like the wire-grass, bravely
it fights its way, raising its head
with newr vigor after being pressed
closely to earth by many a passer-by.
Remedies : cutting plants when they
begin to blossom; in gardens, etc,
cultivating with heed crops.

Fig. 63. Showing flower and fruit. (After
Britton and Brown.)

CO. ABUTILON ABUTILON L. Velvet Leaf.

Indian Mallow. Butter Print.

American Jute. (A. I. 1.)

Stout, erect, 3-6 feet high, densely clothed with short, soft hairs;
leaves long-stalked, heart-shaped, pointed, 4-12 inches wide. Flowers
yellow, solitary in the axils of the
small upper leaves. Pods 12-15,
pubescent, arranged in a circle to
form a head 1 inch in diameter ; when
ripe opening at the apex which is
split to form two short beaks. Seeds
numerous, kidney-shaped, dark gray.
K inch across. (Fig. 04.)

Very common in gardens and
cultivated fields, especially those
of rich lowland soils in which
com and potatoes are grown.
July-Get. The leaves are in
shape and size like those of the
linn tree but are soft velvety in
texture, hence the common name.
The carpels or single pods arc
separated from each other by
deep lengthwise grooves and the
appearance of the ripe head has
been aptly likened to that of a

Fig. 64. Showing flowers and ci'cle of fruits.
(After Vasey.)

[7]

08

THE INDTAKA WEED BOOK.

circle of little milk pitchers set close together with their lips point-
ing outward. The many seeds are widely distributed by being
blown over the snow and carried in hay and other crops. By some
farmers it is considered one of the worst weeds with which they
have to deal in bottom corn lands. Remedies: pulling or cutting
before the blossoms appear; burning the mature plants before fall
plowing ; cultivation of hoed crops.

The bast, or inner fibrous bark, of this weed is a jute substi-
tute which may be made into twine, rope and paper. Jn China
the plant is cultivated for this fibre, which is exported under the
name of China jute. The fibre from young plants takes dye readily
and is fine enough to work into yarn for carpet fillings and coarse
fabrics. Experiments in the cultivation and manufacture of the
fibre have been made in Illinois and New Jersey. The cultivation
was successful but the enterprises failed on account of the lack of
economical machinery for extracting the fibre.*

THE ST. JOHN'S- WORT FAMILY.— HYPERICACE^.

Herbs or shrubby plants with opposite entire leaves which are
always marked with glandular or small black dots, these pellucid
when held against the light. Flowers in panicles or cymes at the
end of slender stems; sepals 4 or 5, greenish; petals 4 or 5, yellow;
stamens many, arranged in 3 or more clusters. Pod 1 to 5-celled

with numerous seeds. About 20 species
occur in the State, all natives but one, and
it. like many other introduced plants, a
vile weed.

61. HYPERICUM PERFORATUM L. Common St.

John's- wort. Herb John. (P. I. 3.)
Erect from a woody base, 1-2 feet high,
much branched; leaves oblong or linear, ses-
sile, less than an inch in length. Petals deep
yellow with numerous black dots, twice the
length of the lanceolate acute sepals. Pod 3-
celled ; seeds oblong, numerous, 1/20 inch
long, surface with rows of pits. (Figs. 12, rf;
65.)

Frequent in pastures and moist mead-
ows. June-Sept. The crushed leaves are
odorous and contain a very acrid juice.
The name St. John's-wort was given it by
the peasants of France and Germany who
gather it with great ceremony upon St.

( c.f ll ( I'tcfi 1 I il if I !; I.IE cf il i Wcikl." 1SC7.

WEEDS OF THE EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY. 99

John's day arid hang it in their windows as a charm against storms,
thunder and evil spirits. In Italy it is known as the "devil chaser"
because it scares away those who work in darkness by bringing to
light their hidden deeds. It spreads by runners from the base and
by seeds in hay, clover and grass seed. Remedies : cutting or pull-
ing in meadows before mowing; digging or spudding; thorough
cultivation with hoed crops.

THE EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY.— ONAGRACE^E.

Herbs of varied size and appearance having the calyx tube
united its full length with the ovary and often prolonged beyond
it. Petals usually 4, twisted in the bud ; stamens as many or twice
as many as the petals and, with the latter, inserted on the top of
the calyx tube; ovary usually 4-celled, with numerous ovules in
each cavity. Fruit a capsule or small nut.

A family of medium size whose members have the leaves either
opposite or alternate, and grow in various kinds of soil. The
fuchsias, raised for ornament, are about the only cultivated forms.
Among the 22 species listed from the State as growing wild are
the water purslanes, willow herbs, fireweeds, evening-primroses,
sundrops and enchanter's nightshades. Of these only one is common
enough to be included in this book of weeds.

62. ONAGRA BIENNIS L. Common

Evening-Primrose. (B. N. 2.)
Stem erect, stout, usually un-
branched, 1-9 feet high, often reddish ;
leaves many, lanceolate, pointed, un-
evenly and finely toothed, 1-6 inches
long. Flowers in leafy bracted, terminal
spikes, bright yellow, 1-2 inches broad ;
calyx tube slender, much longer than
the ovary. Capsules oblong, narrowed
above, erect, hairy. Seeds small, brown,
roughened, angular, 1/32 inch long.
(Figs. 11 (7, // ; 66.)

Common along streams and road-
sides and in old, neglected fields, es-
pecially those with a sandy soil,
sometimes crowding out all other
growth and forming dense thickets.
June-Oct. This primrose and the
Fig. GO. Showing flower-buds, flowers, and mullen are often found together on

seed-pods, the latter near the base. (After Ker- -i T , , . , ,

ner and Oliver.) dry, sunny slopes, their petals vie-

100 THE 1XDIAXA WEED BOOK.

ing with the evening sunshine in the brightness of their hue. Those
of the former open only in late after-noon, but if the next day be
cloudy or they are in the shade they often remain open until noon.
They have a pleasing fragrance and by it attract unto themselves
many night-flying moths. It is one of the few native weeds which
has found its way to Europe in exchange for the many they have
sent to us, and is said to be commonly cultivated in many English
flower gardens. The first year it produces only a rosette of root
leaves and is, there fore, a weed mostly in stubble or in crops sown
in autumn, being especially notable in thinly seeded clover fields.
Remedies: pulling, cutting or spudding in summer before the
seeds ripen or in late autumn after the rosettes appear : burning
mature plants; cultivation with hoed crops. When mown it is
apt to stool and send up later stalks. Several successive mowings
will, however, get rid of it.

The young shoots and roots of the evening-primrose are eaten
as a salad in Germany. A tea made from the leaves is, in the
eastern States, mush used for dysentery, cholera morbus and other
summer diseases of the bowels. Tn the East and South the young
roots are also grated fine and mixed with fresh lard, butter or tal-
low to form a salve for burns, scalds, bunions, boils, felons, ery-
sipelas, cuts, bruises, etc. In the South this salve is known as
''King's cure-all" and by the negroes is used even for snake bites.
The blossoms pla,ced in water form a mucilage excellent for sore

THE PARSLEY OR CARROT FAMILY.— UMBELLIFER^B.

Herbs usually with hollow stems and alternate, mostly com-
pound leaves the stalks of which art1 often dilated at base. Flowers
small, white, yellow, greenish or purple, borne in compound or
simple umbels (Fig. 13, e, g) ; calyx tube wholly united to the
ovary, its top truncate or with 5 small teeth ; petals 5, inserted on
the margin of the calyx; stamens 5, borne on the disk that forms
the top of the ovary; ovary 2-celled, with 1 ovule in each cavity.
Fruit composed of 2 seed-like dry carpels which are flattened or
cylindrical and marked lengthwise with ribs,

A large and very difficult family some members of which have
very poisonous roots or herbage. The flowers are much alike in
all and the leaves very diversified, even in the same genus, so that
the mature fruit is necessary for correct determination of the spe-
cies. There are usually oil tubes in the fruit and the odor of cara-

*Vasey, "Reporfof U.rS. Botanist," 1887, 311.

WEEDS OF THE PARSLEY FAJVI1LY.

way seeds accompanies most of the fruits or mature seed pods.
Thirty-two species of the family are listed as growing wild in the
State, among; them, besides the weeds below mentioned, being the
cowbane, button snake-root, black snake-root, sweet-cicely, hone-
wort, pennywort and that pretty little harbinger of spring, the
turkey-pea or pepper and salt. The button snake-root differs from
nil the others in having the (lowers clustered in dense bracted heads
and the leaves lily-like. It is frequent in the wet prairies of west-
ern Indiana. Among the cultivated members of the family are the
carrot, parsley, celery, parsnip, coriander, fennel and caraway.

(Jo. DAUCUS CAKOTA L. Wild Carrot. Queen Anne's Lace. Kiid's Nest.

Devil's Plague. (R. I. 1.)

Erect, bristly, 1-3 feet high, from a deep, fleshy conical root ; lower
and basal leaves 2 or 3 times divided, the smaller segments linear, toothed
or lobed; upper leaves smaller, less divided. Flowers white, in com-
pound umbels, which in age turn inward, forming a bird-nest-li'ke cavity.
Fruit bristly on the winged ribs. Seeds brown, $ inch long, oval, prickly.
(Figs. 1, e; 67.)

A handsome but vile weed which during the past 20 years has
spread over most of Indiana. Tt occurs mainly along roadsides and
in old neglected fields and meadows, espe-
cially in poor, dry upland soil, and is much
more common in southern Indiana, where
such soil is prevalent, than in the northern
counties. June-Oct. It is the original
form of the cultivated carrot and is a na-
tive of both Europe and Asia. The central
flower of each umbel, and sometimes of
each umbellet or little umbel, is often
purple and the outer ones are sometimes
partly or wholly pinkish. In the evening
the flowers droop their heads and the
young clusters of buds look especially
weary, but in the morning all are standing
up stiffly as if they had never thought of
going to sleep. The seeds are very numerous, 50,000 having been
counted on a plant of average size, and they are widely distributed
by birds, railways, wind and water, so that if one slovenly
fanner in a neighborhood allows the plant to grow all his neigh-
bors will soon suffer for his neglect. Remedies: deep cutting with
hoe or spud before blossoming; pulling when the ground is wet; in-
creased fertilization; repeated mowing while in blossom. If mown

Fig. 67. Flower and fruit above.
(After Vasey.)

102

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

but once they stool again and produce seed later on. By cutting
with the scythe as often as they attempt to bloom all will be de-
stroyed in two years. Badly infested meadows should be broken
up and then planted to corn or re-seeded.

G4. HERACLEUM LANATUM Michx. Cow

Parsnip. Masterwort. (P. X. 2.)
Stem very stout, erect, grooved, woolly,
4-8 feet high, often 2 inches thick at base ;
leaves divided into 3 leaflets which are rather
tli in, very pubescent beneath, broadly ovate,
stalked, sharply toothed, 3-6 inches broad.
Flowers white in compound umbels which
are 6-12 inches wide. Fruit broadly oval, i
inch long, $ inch wide, notched at tip and
with club-shaped oil-tubes extending only to
middle. (Fig. 68.)

Common in the northern counties in
low meadows and pastures and about the
borders of lakes, ditches, etc. ; less fre-
quent southward. June- Aug. Rem-
edies: repeated mowing or grubbing;
cultivation.

Fig. 68. Branch with umbel and leaf;
a, flower; b, fruit; c, cross-section of fruit. C5.
^After Watson.)

PASTINACA SATIVA L. Wild Parsnip.

Queen Weed. (P». I. 2.)
Stem erect, grooved, hollow, branching, 2-5 feet high, from a long
conic fleshy root ; lower and basal leaves pinnate or once divided, the seg-
ments thin, ovate, obtuse, sessile, sharply cut-toothed ; upper leaves much
smaller. Flowers yellow i'n compound umbels, without involucres, the rays
and flower stems very slender. Fruit broadly oval, 1 inch long, the ribs
riot prominent but the oil tubes conspicuous. Seeds whitish, thin, | inch
long.

Common in waste places, especially in moist grounds along rail-
ways, borders of marshes, roadsides, etc. June— Oct. The roots are
poisonous even after cooking and are sometimes eaten by children
with fatal results. Both it and the wild carrot harbor the celery
fungus and neither should be allowed to grow anywhere near celery
gardens. It is simply an escaped and degenerate form of the
garden parsnip, which has become poisonous as a means of pro-
tection. Remedies: frequent mowing; cultivation with hoed crops;
deep cutting with hoe or spud in late fall or early spring.

The meadow parsnips, Thaspium trifoliatum L., T. awreum
Nutt. and T. barlinodv 'Michx., resemble the wild parsnip bat are
much smaller, usually without grooved stems and with the fruit

WEEDS OF1 THE PARSLEY FAMtLY.

103

not flattened. They occur frequently along banks, ditches and
roadsides. T'emedies the same.

U<). OCITA MM 'i i. ATA L. Water Hemlock. Spotted Cowbane. Musquash

Hoot. (1*. N. 2.)

Stout, erect, branching, 3-8 feet high, the stein rigid, hollow, marked
with purple lines, springing from several fleshy, oblong or spindle-shaped
roots; leaves 2- or 3-divided, the lower long-stalked, often 1 foot long, the
leaflets lance-oblong, coarsely and sharply toothed, 1-5 inches long.
Flowers white in compound terminal umbels, the umbellets many-flowered.
Fruit ovate, -J inch long, with solitary oil tubes between the corky ribs.
(Fig. 69.)

Occurs throughout the State in swamps, ditches and low wet
grounds. June-Aug. It is one of the most poisonous native plants

in the State, the roots being espe-
cially dangerous since they are aro-
matic, their taste suggesting that of
parsnips or sweet-cicely. Both chil-
dren and adults sometimes get hold
of them where they have become ex-
posed in some manner, and their
eating results in almost certain
death. Many cattle and sometimes
sheep are also killed by eating the
tubers or by drinking water which
has become poisoned by the juices of
the crushed roots. In spring when
other food is scarce they browse over
the wet lands, find the new green
shoots and easily pull out the roots
which look and taste like those of
parsnip, so that they are very

oo^poKlo fn etrwdr A -YkWi nf tlin
B-gTeeaD K,K. A plGCC •

root the size of a walnut is said to
be large enough to kill a cow in 20 minutes. The symptoms of
the poison in man arc vomiting, colicky pains, staggering and
frightful convulsions ending in death. When bruised the plant
emits a disagreeable odor. Remedies: grubbing or cutting with
hoc or spud in spring, then drying and burning the roots.

The poison hemlock (Conium maculatum L.) is another very
poisonous species which lias been introduced from Europe. It is
also a large branching form with spotted stem and differs from
the water hemlock mainly in growing in dry waste places and in

Fig. 69. Showing spindle-shaped roots and
lower stem; also fruit and cross-section of seed.

104

THE TtfDT.ANA \VFED BOOK.

the fruit having no oil tubes. The juices from it furnished the
poison of which Socrates was compelled to drink at Athens. In
Indiana it lias been recorded only from the southern counties.

Drugs made from the leaves and fruit of the poison hemlock
are used in neuralgia, asthma and rheumatism. If collected for
sale the leaves should be gathered when the plant is in flower, and
the fruit just before ripening. The former should be dried quickly
in the sun, the fruit more slowly in the shade. After drying both
should be kept in tightly closed vessels. About 20,000 pounds of
the seeds and 15,000 of the leaves are imported annually, the price
ranging from 3 to 4 cents per pound for each.

THE DOGBANE FAMILY — APOCYNACEJE.

Perennial herbs, shrubs or vines with entire, mostly opposite,
leaves and a milky, acrid juice. Flowers solitary or borne in cymes
or panicles ; petals 5, united at base, twisted in the bud ; stamens
5, alternate with the petals, inserted on the tube of the corolla ;
ovaries 2, distinct. Fruit usually a follicle opening at the side.

A large family but mostly represented in the tropics, the
oleander and periwinkle being familiar cultivated forms. Only 5
species grow wild in Indiana. One of these is the periwinkle or
blue myrtle, Vinca minor L., which has escaped from cultivation,

and two others are weeds.

< 7. APOCYNUM CANNABINUM L. In-
dian Hemp. Amy-root. (I*.
X. 3.)

Stem erect or ascending, glabrous,
much branched, 2-3 feet high; bark
tough, fibrous ; leaves opposite, oblong
or oval, short-stalked or sessile, 2-«.J
inches long. Flowers greenish-white
in erect terminal many-flowered clus-
ters: corolla bell-shaped, the tube not
longer than the sepals. Pods (fol-
licles) very slender, cylindrical, 4-0
inches long. Seeds brown, slender,
tipped with a long tuft of silky white
hairs. (Fig. 70.)

Frequent on slopes of old fields
and along railways, roadsides and
borders of thickets, especially in

Fig. 70. a, flower; b, corolla split and spread moist Soil. Jllly-Sept. It is often
to show base of stamens; c, Hamens; d, tuft of TT -\ j.i, „ «o..--»«ll I/™ ^A v-iilL-

hairs attached to seed. (After Dodge.) called the small-leaved milk-

WEEDS OF THE MILKWEED FAMILY. 105

weed" and its tough fibrous inner bark is easily separated from
the straight stalks and is fine, long and quite strong. It is much
used by the Indians for making bags, mats, small baskets, belts
and twine for fishing-lines and nets. The milky juice is poisonous
and the numerous rootstocks and wind carried seeds render its
spreading easy. Remedies: hoe-cutting and salting; thorough culti-
vation ; repeated mowing.

The spreading dogbane (A. androscemi folium L.) is a near rela-
tive and is also frequent in dry soil along thickets and fence-rows.
It is lower, 1-3 feet high, with more forking branches, wider leaves,
larger and more showy rose-colored flowers in which the corolla
tube is longer than the sepals. Remedies the same.

THE MILKWEED FAMILY.— A SCLEPIADACE.E.

Herbs or vines with milky juice and mostly opposite or whorled
entire leaves. Flowers usually in umbels ; calyx 5-parted, the tube
very short or none ; petals 5, more or less united ; between corolla
and stamens a crown of 5 hood-shaped nectar cups each contain-
ing an incurved horn; stamens 5. inserted on the base of the
corolla ; pollen grains cohering to form a pear-shaped waxy mass,
two of which are united like little "saddle-bags" by a prolonga-
tion of their summits. (Fig. 11, i.) Fruit a follicle composed of
two valves, opening on the side. Seeds compressed and usually
bearing a tuPt of long silken hairs.

A large family whose main distribution is in the tropics. In
Indiana it is represented by 17 species, 11 of which are true^milk-
weeds belonging to the genus Asclepias. They are perennial upright
herbs with thick, deep roots and having the simple umbels of mostly
purplish flowers borne on slender nodding stalks, which are either
terminal or springing from the axils of the leaves. When a bee
or other insect visits their flowers in search of honey its legs* often
become entangled in the grooves between the hoods and in at-
tempting to escape a pair of the sticky pollen masses attach them-
selves to its feet. The bees and flies are often unable to free their
legs and are held prisoners until they die. Three of these milk-
weeds are with us common enough to be termed weeds.

('S. ASCLEPIAS TITEROSA L. Butterfly- weed. Pleurisy-root. Wind-root.

(P. X. 3.)

Stems erect, hairy, usually tufted, simple or branched near the top,
1-2 feet high, very leafy and with little milky juice; leaves alternate,
oblong or lanceolate, sessile or short-stalked, 2-C5 inches long. Flowers
orange-yellow, showy, numerous. Pods hoary, erect on bent flower stalks.
Seeds flat, broadly winged with abundant silky hairs.

106

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Common in dry or sandy soil, along railways, roadsides and in
neglected fields June-Sept. One of the most handsome of our
wild flowers, yet having a tendency to spread and crowd out more
valuable plants. Remedies: grubbing or repeated cutting. Its
bright orange hoods are very attractive to butterflies, especially
the smaller blue ones known as " hair-streaks" and "coppers."
Scores of these may sometimes be seen flitting about a bunch of
the flowers. The root of the butterfly-weed is an officinal remedy
for colds, bronchitis, pleurisy and pneumonia, the dose being from
20 to 40 grains of the powdered root, or a teacupful of the de-
coction made with half an ounce of root to a pint of water, taken
several times a day. When properly dried it brings 5 to 6 cents
a pound.

GO. ASCLEPIAS INCAHNATA L. Swamp Milkweed. (P. X. 3.)

Stein slender, glabrous, branched above, 2-5 feet high, leafy to the

top; leaves opposite, lanceolate or oblong, pointed, 3-6 inches long, 1 inch

wide. Flowers small, flesh colored, red-
dish or rose-pnrple, in numerous umbels,
the hoods shorter than the slender needle-
pointed horns. Pods erect, slender, 2-3 i
inches long. Seeds brown, flat, broadly
winged and with the usual tuft of hairs.
(Fig. 71.)

Very common in marshes, ditches,
low wet pastures and borders of lakes
and ponds. July-Sept. The fibre of
the stem is tough, finer than that of
hemp, soft and glossy, and possesses
greater strength than the majority of
bast fibres of wild growth. It can be
used for all purposes to which hemp
may be applied. Binder twine made
from it has stood a breaking test of
95 to 125 pounds. Since the plant
grows best on lands subject to over-
flow or too wet to be cultivated for
grain, it might, with the proper attention, prove as valuable a fibre-
producing plant* as hemp and so bring in returns from otherwise
waste ground. The root is also on officinal remedy for asthma,
catarrh, rheumatism, etc. The plant may be killed by draining and
grubbing or repeated mowings.

Fig. 71. (After Dodge.)

*Dodge. — "Fibre Investigations," No. 9.

WEEDS OF THE MILKWEED FAMILY.

107

Fig. 72. (After Vasey.)

70. ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA L. Common Milkweed. Silkweed. Wild Cotton.

(P. N. 2.)

Stein stout, soft-downy, usually simple, 3-5 feet high ; leaves opposite,
. oblong or oval, short-stalked, densely hairy beneath, 4-9 inches long, 2-1

inches wide. Flowers dull purple, the hoods
short, obtuse with a tooth each side of the short
horn. Pods robust, 3-5 inches long, the outside
woolly and bearing numerous short soft tufts
or warts. Seeds brown, flat, \ inch long, with
an abundance of silky hairs. (Fig. 72.)

Common along roadsides, fence-rows
and in blue-grass pastures. June-Aug.
The milky juice is very plentiful, exuding
whenever the leaves or stems are bruised,
and is used by children as a remedy for
warts. The root is used in medicine and
when properly dried brings about 4 cents
per pound. Where once started in a pas-
ture the deep running rootstocks spread
rapidly and send up numerous stems so

that the area affected becomes much larger year by year. Rem-
edies : repeated mowing or grubbing while in blossom ; in cultivated
lands, thorough hoeing and heavy cropping.

THE MORNING-GLORY FAMILY .--CONVOLVULAOEJE.

Mostly twining, climbing or trailing herbs with alternate leaves
and regular solitary or clustered axillary flowers. Sepals 5 ; petals
5, twisted in the bud, usually united their full length to form a
large bell-shaped or funnel-form corolla (Fig. 10, /.) : stamens 5,
inserted low down on the tube of the corolla; ovary above-and not
united with the calyx, 2— 4-celled with a pair of ovules in each cell.
Fruit a 2-4-valved capsule.

A large family most abundant in the tropics, many of which
are with us cultivated for ornament and one, the sweet potato, for
its edible roots. Nine species, known as morning-glories and bind-
weeds, grow wild in the State, three at least of which are trouble-
some weeds. The glory of these wild morning-glories, how it en-
trances us! 'Tis a flower whose beauty is without a peer. The
eye of each bloom is set deep within the tube of the corolla and
beams out at us with an expression of most tender good will if we
but deign to give it passing notice. They are goddesses of the night
and early morn — born in the former — reigning in the latter and
closing forever their evanescent eyes before the fiercer beams of the

108

THE INDIANA AYE ED BOOK.

noonday sun. God pity him .who sees no beauty in a wild morning-
glory, fresh from its natal bud !

71. IPOMCKA PANDUKATA L. Wild. Sweet-potato. Man-of-the-Earth. (!'.

N. 2.)

Stems long and stout, 2-12 feet long, trailing or twining from a huge
fleshy r<x)t : leaves broadly ovate, pointed, heart-shaped at base, 2-0 inches
h.iig, sometimes constricted at sides so as to be fiddle-shaped. Flower-
stalks long, l-r> flowered; corolla funnel-form, 2-3 inches long, white or
with purplish stripes in the throat. Capsule egg-shaped, 2-4 seeded, the
setnls densely woolly on the margins. (Fig. 73.)

Common in dry or sandy soils, especially in river bottom fields,
though often in uplands. May-Sept. The vine or visible part

gives little sign of the great
amount of available food stored
in the fleshy root which is often
two or more feet long and some-
times weighs 35 pounds. Such a
root, buried deep in the soil,
sends out many runners where
the plant has fairly established
itself and makes it very difficult
to exterminate. Remedies :
deep cutting and salting ; re-
peated mowing for two or three
years.

The true wild morning-glories,
of which there are three species

Fig. 73. Flowering branch; a, root; b, fruit; c. seed 1H the State, are mudl leSS

troublesome as weeds, though oft-
en occurring in numbers in lowland sandy fields. The most com-
mon of these are the small white-flowered species (7. lacunosa L.)
with heart-shaped leaves and white corolla about ^ inch long, and
the ivy-leaved morning-glory (/. hederacea Jacq.), the leaves deeply
3-lobed and flowers H inches long, light blue or purple with white
tube. Both are annuals and can be destroyed by pulling or cutting
before seeding.

72. CONVOLVULUS SKPIUM L. Hedge Bindweed. Bracted Bindweed.

Devil's Vine. (P. N. 1.)

Stems widely trailing or twining, 3-10 feet long; leaves slender-
stalked, triangular or arrow-shaped, pointed. 2-f> inches long. Flowers
about 2 inches long, solitary on long axillary stalks, pink with white
stripes or wholly white ; calyx with two large bracts f inch long at base.

a

WEEDS OP THE MORNING-GLORY FAMILY.

109

Capsule globose, 2-4 valved. Seeds dark without hairs, J inch across.
(Fig. 74.)

Very common in cultivated bottom lands, moist uplands and
along gravelly banks. June-Aug. It spreads by both seeds and

creeping underground stems and
is often called wild morning-glory
or pea vine. From the annual
morning-glories above mentioned
this and the next are told by the
flowers having two slender stig-
mas, whereas in them the 1 or 2
stigmas are globose or enlarged at
tip. The bindweed often climbs up
the stalks of corn or wheat and
pulls them over, while potatoes and
other low growing crops are liter-
ally smothered by its vines and
leaves. Its rootstocks bear numer-
ous buds and if cut up any small
piece with a bud present will pro-
duce a new plant, Three remedies
are given for its eradication

Fig. 74. (After Cox.) JQ ft recent bulletillj* yiz ^ (fl)

Thorough cultivation every week or ten days between the spring
and fall frosts, cutting out every piece of top growth that shows
itself. (?>) Pasturing with hogs which are very fond of the roots
and rootstocks; the hogs of course should not have their noses
ringed or slit, so that they may root deeply ; if turned in just after
the land is plowed the roots will be near the top and the hogs, if
not furnished much other food, will go after them greedily, (c)
Sowing the land to alfalfa, which not only tends to smother out
the weed 1m t by its necessary frequent cutting for hay serves in
keeping down the top growth. The alfalfa should lie followed by a
cultivated crop to complete the work of eradication.

7'>. CONVOLVULUS ARVENSIS L. Field Bindweed. Corn-bind. (P. I. 1.)

Resembles the preceding but the branches shorter, 1-3 feet long ;
the leaves smaller with the lobes at base more pointed and projecting.
Flowers less than 1 inch in length, white or tinged with red; calyx with-
out bracts at its bas<\ (Fig. 75.)

In Indiana this introduced bindweed is much less common than
the native species and occurs in dry, usually sandy or gravelly

*H. R. Cox— Farm Bull. 368, U. S. Dept. Agr.

110

THE INDIANA V7EED BOOK.

Fig. 75. Branch with flowers. (After Cox.)

soil, mostly in old neglected fields
or along railways. May-Sept. It
is propagated by spreading root-
stocks, which form buds and send
up shoots a.t close intervals. As
with the hedge bindweed the top
growth must be kept down and the
roots starved out. Remedies the
same; or, if in small patches, hoe
cutting and salting.

THE DODDER FAMILY.—
CUSCUTACE.E.

Yellow or whitish twining para-
sites with very slender stems and
leaves reduced to minute scales. Flowers small, mostly white,
borne in dense clusters: calyx 5-lobed or 5-parted; corolla bell-
shaped or cylindric, 5-lobed, the tube with small fringe-like scales
between the lobes; stamens 5; ovary 2-celled. Fruit a 1-4-seeded
capsule, or small globose pod, opening with a lid or bursting irreg-
ularly.

A small family of leafless annual herbs with thread-like twin-
ing stems, known as dodders or strangle- weeds, and parasitic on
other herbs and shrubs by numerous minute suckers put out from
the stem. All dodders are parasites by suicide. That is, each
plant springs from a seed which furnishes it nourishment until it
finds some suitable host about which to coil. In coiling it con-
tracts and so pulls itself up by the roots. If not uprooted a por-
tion of the stem a few inches above the ground soon withers, dies
and breaks apart while the upper twining portion with its numer-
ous minute suckers continues to flourish on the juices of its host.

If from the beginning one could trace its history he would
doubtless find that like most other plants the dodder once had
leaves but a weak stem, and desiring to reach the light began to
twine. Tasting juices by chance it was nourished by them and so
began a downfall which has continued until it presents the de-
graded spectacle of a plant without a root, without a twig, without
a leaf and with a stem so useless as to be inadequate to bear its
own weight. Other plants with smaller beginnings have gone on
to higher forms but the dodder, from a breach of the laws of
evolution, has paid one of nature'^ heaviest fines — lost the organs

WEEDS OF TJIE DODDER FAMILY.

Ill

which it once possessed and is a yellow creeping parasite almost
its whole life long.

Six species of dodder are recorded from Indiana and several
others doubtless occur. Two of these which are the most harm-
ful are herewith treated.

74. CUSCUTA EPITHYMUM MuiT. Clover Dodder. Devil's Gut. (A. I. 1.)
Stems thread-like, reddish-yellow. Flowers sessile in small dense
clusters, pinkish-white; calyx more than one-half the length of the cyl-
indric corolla tube; scales of the latter scalloped and strongly incurved.
Capsule opening by a little lid. Seeds brown or dark ash-gray nearly
spherical, finely pitted, 1/32 inch long or not larger than the smallest red-
clover seeds. (Fi'g. 76.)

While this dodder is not recorded in the State list of plants it
has been noted in Ripley and Putnam counties and doubtless occurs
elsewhere in many clover fields as it is
widely distributed east of the Mississippi
and is well known in Ohio. Like all other
dodders it depends wholly upon its host
plants, the red clover and alfalfa, for food.
Its stems spread from one clover plant to
another, forming a dense mat-like mass close
to the ground, the flowering branches mean-
while ascending and twining about those of
tho host. Their suckers soon reach and draw
upon the juices, destroying the clover stems
and leaves as if by fire. Even if torn loose
small pieces of the plant will remain and
form new centers of growth. Remedies :
sowing clean clover seed. As Selby has well
said: "Dodder in clover means that the dod-
der seed has been soAvn with the clover seed,
and further that no clover seed should be
Fig 76. a, flower; b co^iia gaved from a dodder infested field."* The

spread apart to show scales on its

innerside; c, mature seed-pod; d seed use Qf a sieve of 20 meshes to the linear inch,

and cross-section ot same. (Alter

made of No. 30 to No. 34- Washburn & Moen
gauge wire, will allow the seed of clover dodder to pass readily
through, but will intercept all but the smallest of red clover and
alfalfa seed. The separation of seed from this dodder is thus ren-
dered very easy. Plowing and thoroughly cultivating the infested
field is the only remedy where the dodder has gained a hold.
The field dodder (C. arvensis Beyr.) is also a common species

*Buli. 175, Ohio Exp.'Sta.,'p.'348.

112 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

which preys upon both clover and alfalfa as well as many other
plants. It is pale yellow, has the scales of the corolla tube fringed
and the capsule bursts irregularly. Twining to the top of the clover
stem or other host it throws out branches and rapidly spreads from
plant to plant, often forming a dense yellow carpet of tangled
threads which cover and weigh down the crop. The seeds are
double the size of those of clover dodder and are therefore very
difficult to separate from those of clover. They are gray, light
brown or pale yellow in hue, rounded on one side and flattened or
angled on the other.

Where found in small patches mowing or digging and burning
is the only sure method of getting rid of this species. Where more
widely spread, thorough cultivation should be used.

75. CUSCUTA GRONOVII WilUl. Common Dodder. Onion Dodder. Wild

Dodder. (A. N. 3.)

Steins bright yellow, slender, high climbing. Flowers short-stalked, in
dense clusters; corolla bell-shaped, lobes spreading, its scales thickly
fringed about the summit of the tube. Capsule globose, short pointed.

Very common along streams and marshes, climbing high over
many kinds of herbs and shrubs, occasionally also in dry upland
fields. July-Sept. Often attacking onions grown in the muck
soils of northern Indiana, Along the streams its yellow yarn-like
stems cover large clumps of the water willow and gleam in the Au-
gust sunshine like some great mass of gold dropped down along
the lowest levels where the placid waters flow. Remedies: mowing
and burning.

Other wild species there are, as the smartweed dodder, which
attacks golden-rods and smartweeds ; the button-bush dodder which
preys mainly upon the shrub of that name, and the massive dodder
whose hosts are the larger Composite like the sunflowers, the great
ragweed and wild lettuce. Its flowers and stems are twisted to-
gether so as to form a rope-like 711 ass sometimes an inch thick,
whose coils encircle its hosts. All are confirmed parasites, sap-
suckers of high degree, whose only redeeming quality is that some
of them prey upon other weeds and thus aid somewhat in keeping
in subjection these omnipresent foes of the farmer.

THE BORAGE FAMILY.— BORAGINACEJE.

Chiefly rough hairy herbs with alternate entire leaves, and
regular flowers borne mostly on one side of the branches of a spike
or raceme which unrolls or straightens as the flowers unfold.
Calyx 5-parted ; corolla gamopetalous, 5-lobed ; stamens 5, inserted

WEEDS OF THE BORAGE FAMILY.

113

on the tube of the corolla and alternate with its petals; ovary
deeply 4-lobed forming in fruit 4 hard seed-like 1-seeded nutlets
standing close together within the calyx.

A rather large family of homely mucilaginous and slightly bit-
ter plants, represented in Indiana by 20 or more species, among
them, in addition to the weeds described below, being the wild
comfrey, blue-bells, wild forget-me-nots, gromwells and puccoons.
The heliotropes and true forget-me-nots are the only common culti-
vated forms.

70. CYNOGLOSSUM OFFICINALE L. Hound's-tongue. Dog Bur. Wool-mat,

Gipsy Flower. (B. I. 2.)

Stem erect, stout, usually branched, leafy to the top, 1-3 feet high ;
basal and lower leaves oblong or tongue-shaped, slender-stalked; upper
leaves lanceolate, sessile or clasping. Flowers reddish-purple or white,
in panicles or more or less one-sided racemes; tube of corolla closed by
5 small scales. Nutlets triangular, flat on the upper face, covered with
short barbed prickles. (Fig. 77.)

A vile ill -smelling weed common in dry soil along roadways, in
shady pastures and waste places. May-Sept. The root leaves of

the first -season's growth form a
dense tuft from the midst of
which the flower stalk of the next
season springs. The prickly burs
adhere rather loosely to cloth-
ing and the wool of sheep. Rem-
edies: deep cutting in late fall or
early spring ; repeated mowing be-
fore the seeds ripen.

The name Cynoglossum is the
Greek for two words meaning "a
dog" and "tongue," so given
from the form of the leaves. In
Europe, from whence the weed
has been brought, it has been re-
rxiif^l fn VIQVP tllP TttflPHPal nrOD-
PU

ertv Of preventing dogs barking
at a person if laid beneath the feet ; and wild goats or deer, "when
they be wounded with arrows, do shake them out by eating of this
plant, and heal their wounds."

77. LAPPULA VTRGINIANA L. Beggar's Lice. Virginia Stickseed. (B.

N. 2.)
Erect, much branched., 2-4 feet hi'gh; basal leaves broad, ovate,

Fig. 77. Corolla split and spread apart to show the
stamens and scales in throat; fruit with 4 bur-like
nutlets. (After Britton and Brown.)

[8]

114

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

long-stalked; stein leaves narrower, ovate-oblong, the uppermost sessile.
Flowers small, nearly white, in racemes which are bract eel only at base.
Fruit globose, nearly 1/0 inch long, recurved ; nutlets with margins and
usually the back thickly armed with prickles.

Common in dry soil along borders of thickets, roadsides and in
open woods and old fields. June-Sept. Occurring with it or in
similar places and about as common is a European species, the blue
bur or burseed (L. lappula L.~). It is an annual, 1-2 feet high,
clothed with short gray hairs and with the leaves linear or oblong,
sessile or stalked; the flowers pale blue, in leafy bract ed 1 -sided
racemes, and the fruit not curved downward. Among the various
fruits and seeds which rely upon animals for distribution, those of
these two beggars' lice are most troublesome, being especially an-
noying to horses, dogs, sheep and man. They are easily known by
being in groups of four and shaped somewhat like a quarter of an
apple. The tip of each little prickle is barbed upward like a har-
poon so that the burs are very difficult to remove from clothing.
Remedies: pulling or mowing and burning; thorough cultivation;
late fall or early spring plowing1.

78. LITHOSPERMUM ARVENSE L. Corn Giouiwell. Wheat Thief. Pigeon-
weed. Redroot. (A. I. 2.)

Erect, usually branched, G-20 inches high, pale green clothed with
appressed grayish hairs ; leaves linear or lanceolate, sessile without veins.
Flowers small, dull white, solitary and sessile in the axils of leafy bracts
along the spikes; corolla tube not longer than the calyx, without scales or
folds. Nutlets hard, brown, conical, 1/10 inch long, wrinkled and pitted.
(Fig. IS.)

Common in the northern half of the
State along railways, roadsides and in
cultivated fields; less common but
rapidly spreading southward. April-
Sept. Prefers dry, more or less sandy
soil, and where abundant especially
harmful to winter wheat, rye, and
meadows. The seeds often germinate
in late autumn, the plant then being a
winter annual, blooming and ripening
the lowermost seeds the next spring
before the winter cereals are cut. It
Fig. 78. (After Shaw.) js tbereforc very difficult to remove

from grain fields. The seeds are frequent among those of wheat and
hay and are also distributed by birds, threshing machines anci

WKE1TS OF Till7 HORACE FAMILY.

cattle. They are said to retain their vitality for years. Remedies:
clean seed; burning wheat stubble in infested fields; if badly in-
fested, plowing up the field in early spring; late fall plowing; pull-
ing or cutting where occurring in small numbers.

Blueweed. Viper's Bngloss. (B. I. 1.)

Erect, branched, bristly-hairy, 1-*>
feet high ; stem leaves oblong or lance-
olate, sessile, entire, 2-U inches long.
Flowers bright bine, tubular, 2/3 to 1
inch long, numerous in short, 1-sided
spikes ; lobes of the corolla unequal.
Nutlets ovate. % inch long, wrinkled,
their bases flat. (Fig. 79.)

A European weed as yet re-
corded only from the northern part
of the State. Occurs along rail-
ways, roadsides and in waste
places generally, especially in poor
or gravell}7 soils. June-Aug. The
numerous hairs harden with age
and form sharp prickles which
come off easily like the spines of a
cactus. Being a biennial it forms
the first year a dense rosette of
long leaves lying flat on the

ground, blooms only the second year, and is especially harmful to
pastures and meadows. In Canada it is accounted one of the worst
of pasture weeds. Like the Russian thistle it should be killed on
sight. Remedies: deep cutting with hoe or spud in early spring;
thorough cultivation when found in fields; repeated scythe mowing
close to the ground.

THE VERVAIN FAMILY.— VERBENACE^E.

Herbs or shrubs with opposite or whorl ed leaves and perfect
flowers usually in spikes or heads. Calyx 4-5 lobed or cleft; petals
united into a more or less two-lipped, usually cylindrical, corolla
(this nearly regular in our weeds) : stamens 4, 2 long, 2 short, in-
serted on the corolla and alternate with its lobes; ovary 2-4 celled,

1 ovule in each cavity. Fruit dry, usually splitting when ripe into

2 or 4 nutlets.

A large family, mostly represented in the tropics. Only 8
species are listed from Indiana, 7 of which belong to the genus

116 THE INDIANA, WEED BOOK.

Verbena, the other being the fog- fruit, a low creeping form with
only 2 nutlets, which grows along river banks and ditches. Four
of them, known as vervains, are with us common enough to be
classed as weeds, while another, V. officinalis L., is the European
vervain or ''herb-of-the-cross, " introduced widely throughout the
United States and occurring in southeastern Indiana, In Germany
a wreatli of this vervain is presented to the newly married bride,
while in France it is gathered with secret incantations at different
stages of the moon, and is then held to possess remarkable curative
properties. It was formerly much used for love-philtres and
charms, and it and the rue were the two plants most used in the
mystic cauldrons of the witches This vervain was also among the
sacred plants of the Druids and was only gathered by them "when
the dog-star arose from unsunned spots." The reasons for the
names "herb-of-the-eross" and "holy herb" are set forth in the
following stanza :

"All hail, thou holy herb, vervin.
Growing on the ground ;
On the Mount of Calvary
There wast thou found ;
Thou he! pest many a grief,
And staunchest many a wound.
In the name of sweet Jesu
I lift thee from the ground."

80. VERBENA UKTICIFOLIA L. White Vervain. Nettle-leaved Vervain.

(P. N. 2.)

Stem erect, slender, branched above, usually pubescent, 3-5 feet high ;
leaves ovate, mostly stalked, thin, pointed, coarsely saw-toothed. Flowers
very small, white or purplish, borne on numerous erect or spreading very
slender spikes. Seeds brown, slender, 1/20 inch long, with 1 curved and 2
straight sides.

Our most common species, occurring along roadsides, among
rubbish about old buildings and in open pastures, usually in dry
soil. June-Sept. It is very often covered with the leaf mildew
fungus which -gives it a sickly white hue and renders it an eyesore
to every passerby. In blue-grass pastures it often forms dense
patches, especially in the angles of old rail fences. Remedies: re-
peated mowing or grubbing; cultivation.

81. VERBENA IIASTATA L. Blue Vervain. Simpler's Joy. Wild Hyssop.

(P. N. 3.)

Erect, rough ish. branched above, 3-7 feet high : leaves oblong-lanceolate,
stalked, pointed, sharp-toothed, 3-6 inches long, the lower ones often
hastate. Flowers bright blue in numerous rather slender erect spikes.

Wl'TKDS OP THE VERVAIN FAMILY.

117

Fruit densely overlapping on the spikes. Seeds like tbe preceding but
larger. (Fig. SO.)

Frequent in moist meadows and open sandy fields, waste places,
etc. June-Sept, Sometimes associated with it, but more often in

dry, open pastures, is the hoary ver-
vain (V. stricta Vent.) densely soft,
hairy all over, leaves nearly sessile,
spikes stout, often a foot long, densely
flowered, the corolla larger, deep
purplish blue. In both the flowering
begins at the base and processes
slowly upward so that often only an
inch or two is in blossom at a time.
When in the height of the blooming
period the seed pods, or fruit of the
past, are below; the unopened buds
of the future above. Life, present
work, is then centered in the flower-
ing part; duty performed, work well
done, in the seed part ; promises or hopes for the future in the buds.
Ouly the blooming part, that which is active, is then beautiful.
Both plants are, however, in many places too plentiful and the
farmer needs their room. Remedies: repeated mowing before the
first blossoms appear; cultivation.

The narrow-leaved vervain (V. angustifolia Michx.) is regarded
as a bad weed in the eastern States, but with us has so far ap-
peared in only 3 or 4 counties, where it occurs on prairies and in
light sandy soil along high banks of streams. It is low, 1-2 feet
high, with very slender or at most willow-shaped leaves and blue
flowers in dense, slender spikes. Remedies the same.

Fig. 80. Single flower on left; seed and fruit
on right. (After Britton and Brown.)

THE MINT FAMILY.— LABIATE.

Chiefly aromatic herbs with 4-sided stems and simple opposite
leaves. Flowers mostly in small clusters, spikes or racemes from
the axils of the leaves; corolla with a short or long tube, more or
less 2-lipped ; upper lip usually 2-lobed, lower, 3-lobed ; stamens
usually 4, 2 long, 2 short, sometimes only 2, borne on the tube of
the corolla; ovary deeply 4-lobed, forming a fruit of four 1-seeded
nutlets in the bottom of the persistent calyx.

A family of about 3,000 species, of wide distribution in tem-
perate and tropical regions. The foliage is dotted with small

118

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

glands containing a volatile oil which yields the aroma or spicy
fragrance common to most members of the family. If the plant
belongs to the mint family, by rubbing one of the leaves between
the fingers one can easily detect an odor akin to that of catnip or
pennyroyal. If in addition the stem is 4-sided and the nutlets 4
its location there is certain Here belong the sage and lavender,
bergamot and hoarhound, thyme and sweet majorum, balm and
savory, sweet basil and hyssop of our country gardens. Here also
belong about 65 species growing wild in the State, among them,
in addition to the weeds below mentioned, being skull-caps, giant
hyssops heal-all, dragon-head, hedge nettles, horse mints, wild
basils, field balms, mountain mints, pepper-mints and bugle-weeds.
Mint extracts, distilled from the foliage of certain species, are used
in perfumery, confectionery and in medicines and a number of the

wild forms are gathered as house-
hold remedies. While a half dozen
or more of the family are weeds in
that they are useless plants, no one
of them possesses that dominant in-
trusive character which marks a
weed of the first class.

82 TEUCRIUM CANADENSE L. Wood
Sage. American Germander.
(P. N. 3.)

Stem stiff, erect, downy, somewhat
branched, 1-3 feet high; leaves lance-
olate or oblong, short-stalked, pointed,
sharp-toothed. Flowers f inch long,
pinkish or purplish in terminal bracted
spikes; corolla tube short, the upper
lip 2-lobed; stamens 4, exserted. Nut-
lets rough, attached by the sides.
(Fig. 81.)

Fig. si. a, branch with flower clusters; b, side Common in grass lands along

iew of a few flowers; c, bilabiate or two-lipped +1 V»AT»rloT>«a nf a trauma mar«lip«
'owcr, enlarged, showing the united sepals, the three tne "Orders Ot Streams, HiarSllCS,

, , ,

Divisions of lower lip and two of upper, the stamens
dnd style protruding through the slit of upper lip.
aAfter Briquet.;

moist thickets and fence-rows.

June-Sept. The ovary is only 4-
lobed, not divided into 4 nutlets as in the other mint wreeds treated
below, and the stamens protrude from the cleft between the lobes
of the upper lip. Remedies : mowing and grubbing.

83. NEPETA CATARIA L. Catnip. Catmint. (P. I. 2.)

Stem erect, rather stout, branched, pale green, very downy, 2-3 feet
high ; leaves ovate or heart-shaped, deeply scalloped, paler beneath. Flow-

WEEDS OJ'1 T 1 1 E M I N T FA M ILY . *

ers in whorled clusters about the spikes at the ends of the stems and
branches; corolla whitish dotted with purple, strongly 2-lipped, the upper
lip concave; stamens 4, the upper pair the longer. Nutlets egg-shaped,
brown, smooth, 1/1(1 i'nch long, the basal scar with a white eye-like cavity
each side above.

This is one of the best known of the social weeds being very
common about the sites of old dwellings, along roadsides and in
waste places in rather dry soil. June-Oct. It is a native of both
Europe and Asia, and a tea made from its dried leaves is used the
world over by old ladies who deal in simples as a mild stimulant
and tonic for colic in infants, hysteria, etc. The flowering tops and
leaves have a strong mint-like odor and a bitter taste and are sold
by druggists. If gathered for sale they should be collected when
the plant is in flower and then carefully dried. The price ranges
from 2 to 8 cents per pound.

The common name was given the plant on account of the old
belief that cats "are much delighted with catmint, for the smell
of it is so pleasant unto them that they rub themselves upon it
and wallow or tumble in it and also feed upon its branches greed-
ily. " That cats do eat the leaves the writer knows by having
seen them, but only the cats know why, and they will forever keep
the secret. Perhaps they suffer from cat-colic and eat the catnip
as a cure. As a weed on the farm the catnip is spreading both
by seeds and rootstalks and it gives the waysides and barnyards a
slovenly appearance. Remedies : repeated mowing before the seeds
ripen ; digging or close hoeing.

84. GLECOMA HKOKKACKA L. Ground Ivy. Gill-over-the-Ground. (P. I. 2.)
Stem creeping or trailing, 12-18 inches long, with upright flowering
branches ; leaves rounded or kidney-form, broadly scalloped, long stalked.
Flowers in loose axillary clusters; corolla blue or violet, twice the length
of the calyx, 2-lipped; stamens 4. Nutlets brown, smooth. (Figs. 8, /; 82.)

A common and very pretty trailing herb occurring in shady

grasslands, especially along bor-
ders of thickets, roadsides, fence-
rows and in back yards. March—
Oct. In rich moist soil it often
forms a dense growth of leaves
and stems above ground and root-
stocks below which crowds out the
blue-grass and o t h e r for a g e
plants. In such places its leaves
Fig. 82. a, a flower. (After Watson.) remain green all winter and its

120

THE INDFANA WEED BOOK.

flowers have been seen as early as March 18. Then, while sitting
on an old log. I have had

Ivy flowers beside me peep

Upward, through the ether blue,
Seeing stars which ever keep

Hidden close from human view.

It is common in Europe and among the Swiss, when worn on
the person in company with rue, agrimony, maiden-hair and broom
straw, is thought to confer fine vision and to point out the pres-
ence of witches. The foliage was used in England until the time
of Henry YTTT to clarify and give a flavor to ale, but at that period
was replaced by hops. The odor of" the leaves is exhaled freely and
is strongly penetrating and peculiar, yet pleasing to him who,
through long experience, has learned to expect it on his daily walks.
The plant is very difficult to eradicate, and where found in lawns
and yards, resodding or spading and reseeding must be done, while
in fields fences should be removed and thorough cultivation used.

So. LEONURUS CARDIACA L. Mother wort. (I'. I. 2.)

Stem rather stout, erect, somewhat branched, 2-5 feet tall ; lower leaves
rounded, slender-stalked, 2-5 cleft. Flowers in dense whorls, in the axils
of the narrower 3-cleft upper leaves; calyx teeth spiny-tipped : corolla pale
purple, upper lip concave, white woolly, lower one purple dotted : stamens
4, the lower or front pair the longer. Nutlets 3-sided, 1/12 inch long,
dark, smooth. (Fig. 83.)

This is another common social weed, occurring about the sites
of old houses, barnyards, fence-rows and waste places in dry or

sandy soils. June-Sept. Like the
catnip and ground ivy it was
brought from Europe, but is more
unsightly and useless than either of
them. It was once much used in
nervous and hysterical complaints
and an infusion of its leaves taken
at bedtime is said to produce sleep.
In March one often sees standing
stiffly erect, like brown monuments
of the past, the 4-angled stems of
last year's motherwort. On them
the dry fruit is in dense sessile
clusters an inch and a half apart.

Fig. 83. Corolla split and rpread to show « . -~ „ ., ,1

lower lip and 4 stamens; fruit on left above, calyx 8 to 10 of tlieSC clusters along tllO
on right. (After Britton and Brown.) . .

tapering spike. From 6 to 12 fruits
are in each cluster and from each 5 needle-pointed spines project.

WtifcDS OF THE MINT FAMILY

121

the calyx teeth of last year's flowers. A sure protection they give
the enclosed nutlets from seed-eating bird and inquisitive human,
until the old stem is ready to fall to earth. Then the nutlets are
loosened and soon up from them new plants spring, the old winter
one having been to them a literal ''mother- wort." Remedies: cul-
tivation ; repeated cutting with hoe or spud and salting.

80. LAM HTM AMPT.EXICAULE L. Ilenbit. Dead-nettle. (A. I. 2.)

Steins slender, weak, branched from
base, somewhat spreading, (5-18 inches long;
lower leaves rounded, scalloped, slender-
stalked, upper ones sessile, clasping. Flowers
few, in axillary and terminal clusters; calyx
teeth long, erect, not spiny-tipped; corolla
purplish, small, slender, tubular, upper lip
bearded, lower one si>otted. Nutlets gray with
whitish markings, curved, 3-sided, 1/20 inch
long. (Fig. 84.)

Frequent in southern Indiana, less so
northward. Occurs around dwellings in
lawns and gardens and along roadsides
and borders of fields. March-Oct. In
most places a winter annual, forming its
root-leaves in late autumn, flowering and
ripening its seeds in early spring. Rem-
edies: in lawns, deep cutting or hand
pulling; in fields, thorough cultivation;

Fig. 84. (After Atkinson.)

crowding out with clover or other Avinter growing crop.

87. STACHYS PALUSTRIS L. Common Hedge Nettle.

Stem erect, slender, rough-hairy,
somewhat branched, 1-4 feet high, the
angles with stiff down-pointed hairs;
leaves firm, lanceolate or oblong, sessile
or short-stalked, toothed, pointed.
Flower clusters in an interrupted spike,
(5-10 flowers in a whorl ; corolla tube
not longer than calyx, purplish or pale
red, purple-spotted, the upper lil> pubes-
cent ; stamens as in mothenvort. Nut-
lets egg-shaped, rounded above. (Fig.
85.)

Abundant in moist soil along
ditches and streams and in marshes.
June-Sept. The rough hedge nettle
or wound wort (S. aspcra Michx.)
occurs in similar places and differs

Rough-weed. (P. N. 2.)

85.

Single flower above; stamen below.
(After Britton and Brown.)

122

THE INDIANA WKKD BOOK.

mainly in having the leaves wider and slender-stalked, the corolla
and calyx less hairy. Both are homely weeds which for the most
part occupy unused ground and therefore do little harm. Rem-
edies: draining and then mowing for a year or two; cultivation.

88. HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES L. Pennyroyal. (A. N. 3.)

Stem slender, erect, much branched, finely and softly hairy, G-1S inches
high ; leaves ovate to oblong, thin, short-stalked, few-toothed. Flowers in
small rather loose axillary clusters; teeth of upper calyx lip triangular;
corolhi bluish-purple with darker spots, i inch long, the upper lip notched ;
perfect stamens only 2. Nutlets egg-shaped, finely wrinkled, 1/32 inch
long. (Fi'g. SO.)

A strongly aromatic and well known little herb, very common in
old fields, open upland wooded pastures, along fence-rows and about
old stumps. June-Oct. The average stem
of pennyroyal bears 12 whorls or clusters of
flowers, each whorl having 8 to 10 flowers.
Counting 100 flowers to the stem and 4 seeds
to the flower, each plant produces at least
400 seeds. When it grows thickly there are
at least 40 stems to the square foot, so that
we have 16.000 seeds of a single plant pro-
duced on each square foot of surface. Thus
do the wild things of nature hold their own.
A myriad are where one is yet to be.

When the rambler through some old
pasture in southern Indiana seats himself
beneath the shade of oak or maple on a sum-
mer day the first thing to greet him is
usually the odor of pennyroyal. The blos-
soming plant is then everywhere abundant
on the clay lands of the woodland slopes.
From the half sterile soil its rootlets gather
in the elements of the essential oil which ex-
hales the penetrating odor. Within the cells of leaf and stem those
elements are sorted and combined and by a process of chemical
changes the oil is there produced. The odor is so strong and lasting
that it readily survives the winter and in March or April, in places
where the plant has grown, it is mingled with that of the earth mold
of spring to form a pleasing fragrance.

An infusion of the leaves of pennyroyal is much used as a popu-
lar remedy to promote perspiration, as a cure for colic and a car-
minative, and may be taken freely without much regard to quantity.

ower; b
atson.)

WEEDS OF THE MINT FAMILY.

Notwithstanding its fragrance and its medicinal value the plant is
much too common in places where the blue-grass ought to grow and
is -therefore included among this list of weeds. Remedies: in
pastures, mowing; burning over in autumn; in fields, increased
fertilization and fall plowing.

89. MENTIIA SPICATA L. Spearmint. Common Mint. Our Lady's Mint.

(P. I. 3.)

Hrect, branched, glabrous, 12-iS indies high, spreading by leafy run-
ners; leaves lanceolate, sessile or short-stalked, pointed, sharply toothed.
Flowers in dense whorls in narrow terminal, usually interrupted bracted
spikes, the bracts linear, awl-pointed, often longer than the flowers ;
corolla regular, pale purple, 4-clef t ; stamens 4. Nutlets egg-shaped,
smooth.

Very common in low wet places, especially about springs and in
lowland pastures along streams. June-Sept. Along the borders
of rippling streams, and often from the shallow water, spring the
stems of this lowly, pungent semi-aquatic herb and its brother the
peppermint. In the centuries that have gone by how many stomach-
aches, both of babies and mature humans
have their juices cured? At the base of
damp shady banks in old woodland pastures
they have their favorite abiding places.
There their fragrance permeates unheeded
the surrounding air. Do browsing cattle
ever suffer from the stomach-ache and find
relief in the juices of their stems and leaves ?
Both the spearmint and the peppermint
(M. pipcrita L.. Fig. 87) were introduced
from Europe, but the former seems to be the
more aggressive and wide spreading. It is
the species used in making that well known
and seductive beverage of the southern
States known as "mint julep.'' It is also
used extensivehr in medicine and extracts,
but much less so than peppermint, the latter
being cultivated extensively in the muck soils of northern Indiana,
Michigan and elsewhere for its essential oil. Both spread freely
by underground stems which send up buds at short intervals, and
where too plentiful can be kept in 'check by hoe-cutting and salt-
ing, or drainage and cultivation..

Fig. 87. Peppermint; a, flower;
b, calyx. (After Watson.)

124 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

THE POTATO FAMILY,— SOL ANACE^E.

Chiefly herbs with alternate leaves and colorless juice. Flowers
regular, usually in cymes; calyx attached to the ovary, 5-lobed;
petals united into a wheel-shaped, funnel-form, bell-shaped or
tubular 5-lobed corolla, the lobes folded in the bud ; stamens 5, in-
serted on the tube of the corolla and alternate with its lobes. Fruit
usually a 2-celled, many-seeded capsule or a berry.

A large family in the tropics but very few native to North
America. Among cultivated forms are the potato, tomato, red pep-
per, tobacco and egg-plant; all of these except the last natives of
South or Central America and introduced from there to Europe.
Potatoes from South America were introduced into England in 1586
and into Ireland in 1610, where they long furnished three-fifths or
more of the entire food of the people, and so gained the name of
Irish potato. Of the tobacco, Dr. Win. Darlington, a noted botanist
of Pennsylvania, wrote in 1847: "The extent to which this
nauseous and powerfully narcotic plant is cultivated — its com-
mercial importance — and the modes in which it is employed to
gratify the senses — constitute, altogether, one of the most remark-
able traits in the history of civilized man. Were we not so practi-
cally familiar with the business, we should, doubtless, be disposed
to regard the whole story of the tobacco trade, and the uses made
of the herb as an absurd and extravagant fable. In view of the
facts and circumstances, it does seem like sheer affectation on our
part, to pretend to be astonished at the indulgence of the Chinese
in the use of opium. The habitual use of tobacco is always more
or less injurious to the system — especially the nervous system —
and in many instances it is highly deleterious. I speak from long
observation, and a personal experience of many years, having'
smoked and chewed the herb, until its pernicious effects compelled
me to es-cliew it altogether." Although not a user of the weed,
the writer heartily endorses every word of the above statement.

About 20 species of the potato family grow wild in Indiana,
several of which have escaped from cultivation. Among them are
the ground cherries, nightshades, horse nettles and jimson-weeds.
These include several weeds of the first class.

00. PIIYSALIS rriiKscKXs L. Low Il'jiiry C rou mi-Cherry. Strawberry To-
mato. (A. X. 2.)

Stem spreading, angled, much branched, more or less velvety hairy;
leaves thin, ovate, pointed, entire or sparingly toothed. Flowers solitary,
axillary ; calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, as long as the
tube; corolla about A inch broad, bell-shaped, dull yellow with a purplish
center. Fruiting calyx rather small, cone-shaped, sharply 5-angled, sunken

WEEDS OF THE POTATO FAMILY.

125

at base, closed at tip and loosely surrounding the green or yellow berry.
Seeds numerous, kidney-shaped, flattened, with a thin edge, finely pitted.
(Fig. SS.)

Very common in lowland sandy fields and waste places. June-
Get. This is the most abundant of the 8 species of ground cherries
listed from the State. All can be recognized by the much inflated
bladdery calyx which encloses the small tomato-like fruit. They

are distinguished one from another by
the smoothness or hairiness and shape
of the leaves, by the color and size of
the flowers and by the shape of the
calyx in fruit, The one above de-
scribed is the only common annual
form. Among the perennial ones with
underground rootstocks the clammy
ground-cherry ( P . li ctcr o p liyll a
Nees.), having large heart-shaped
leaves, 2 inches or more long, densely
clothed with short more or less sticky
hairs; the Virginia ground-cherry
(P. virgimana Mill.), with ovate,
sparsely hairy leaves and fruiting
calyx cone-shaped, 5-angled and deeply sunken at the base, and the
prairie ground-cherry (P. lanccolata Michx.), leaves narrow, lance-
olate or spoon-shaped, fruiting calyx rounded, egg-shaped, scarcely
angled and little sunken at the base, are the common forms. Rem-
edies: thorough cultivation; mowing or cutting the perennial
forms two or three times each season.

1>1. SOLANUM CAROLINENSE L. Horse Nettle. Bull Nettle. Sand Brier.

Tread -soft. (P. N. 1.)

Erect, branched, 1-2 feet high, the branches, leaf-stalks and mid-ribs
of the leaves armed with numerous short, stout, awl-shaped yellow
prickles ; loaves ohlong or ovate, 2-6 inches long, cut-lobed or toothed,
covered with numerous minute star-shaped hairs. Flowers in loose clus-
ters; calyx lobes tapering; corolla wheel -shaped, purplish or white. Berry
naked, orange-yellow, about 4 inch broad, closely resembling that of the
potato. Seeds numerous, straw-color, flat, rounded or ovate, 1/10 inch
long. (Figs. 10, rf; 11, c, 89.)

A very common and pernicious weed growing in both culti-
vated ground and pasture land, especially in dry and sandy soils.
Alay-8ept. It is a southern species which lias spread widely both
by strong rootstocks and numerous seeds. In many places in the
southern two-thirds of Indiana it has, in recent years, become one

Fig.

Fruit enclosed in calyx. (After
Britton and Brown.)

126

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Fig. 89. (After Vasey.)

of the most troublesome of corn-field weeds. In pastures it is also

very common and annoying,
often growing in patches so
thick as to monopolize the soil.
Nothing but sheep among live
stock will eat it, and they feed
mostly upon the berries and so
scatter widely the seeds. It is
attacked by a leaf-beetle (Lep-
tiiwtarsa juncta Germ.) very
similar to the Colorado potato
beetle. This beetle also preys
upon some of the ground-
cherries, but unfortunately it
is not very common. The plant
is so tenacious of life that it is
almost impossible to eradicate
where it once gets a good start,
as it never relinquishes any
ground once occupied. One
farmer in Lawrence County stated that he had proven "that their
roots will live 10 years under a heap of sawdust and grow as soon
as the dust is removed." The first
specimen on farms not already in-
fested should be promptly de-
stroyed. Kernedies: repeated cut-
ting with hoe or spud and salting ;
alternate cultivation and heavy
cropping with clover.

92. SOLANUM ROSTKATUM Dlllial.

Texas Nettle. Prickly Potato.

Buffalo-bur. P r i c k 1 y N i g li t -

shade. (A. X. 1.)
Erect, branching. 1-2 feet high,
very thickly armed with yellow, awl-
shaped prickles and densely covered
with 5-8-rayed hairs ; leaves 2-5
inches long, more or less divided or
cut-Iobed. Flowers in loose clusters
of 3-f>, yello\v, about 1 inch broad ;
calyx densely prickly, surrounding and
wholly enclosing the berry, its prickles
becoming as long as the fruit. Seeds
kidney-form, black or greenish. 1/10 inch long, strongly pitted. (Fig. 90.)

Fig. 90. a, spray of mature plant with flowers and
fruit; b, flower; c, seed. (After Dewey.)

WEEDS OF THE POTATO FAMILY.

127

A weed of the western plains which, through seed in hay and
by mil WHYS, is gradually spreading eastward. Occurs in dry up-
hind or sandy lowland soil. May-Sept. It was first taken by the.
writer in Vigo County in 1888, and in the State catalogue of plants
is listed from six other widely scattered counties. It has been re-
corded as being one of the 34 worst weeds in the United States*
and should be destroyed on sight. Tn some places it is called the
"potato bug plant." as it was the original food of the Colorado
potato beetle. When, about 1865, potato cultivation began in Colo-
rado and Nebraska, the beetle found the new plant more to its
liking and less spiny to crawl over, and practically forsook its old
host, to the great detriment of potato growers throughout the land.
The plant has been aptly described as appearing like a cross be-
tween a thistle and a potato. Being an annual it can be easily
controlled by pulling or cutting before the berries ripen.

{')'•!. SOLANUM NIGBUM L. Black Nightshade. Deadly Nightshade. (A. N. 2.)
Erect, angular, much branched, glabrous or sparingly hairy, 1-2 feet
high; leaves ovate, stalked, wavy-toothed, 2-4 inches long, bases oblique.
Flowers white, drooping, in small umbel-like clusters. Berries globular,
smooth, black, juicy, 1/3 inch in diameter. (Figs. 10, <l ; 91.)

1

Common in gardens, old fields and
shaded waste grounds, especially about
dwellings and outbuildings. July-Oct.
While probably a native it has been
widely distributed in nearly all countries
as a weed. It is a homely, ill-smelling
poisonous plant which should be kept
away from the vicinity of all dwellings as
its grape-like berries are apt to be eaten
by children with serious results, and
calves, sheep and hogs are often poisoned
by them. The principal symptoms of the
poison are dilation of the pupil of the ©ye,
stupefaction, staggering, loss of speech,
feeling and consciousness. Like other an-
nuals, the plant may be easily eradicated
by pulling or cutting before the berries
mature.

The climbing nightshade or bitter-
sweet (Solanum dulcamara L.) is an introduced and closely allied
species, whose stem is climbing or straggling, 2-10 feet long, with

"Halstead, Bot. Gaz., April, 1889.

Fig. 91. (After Ohcsnut.)

128

TitE INDIANA WEED tH)OT\.

ovate or hastate pointed leaves, blue wheel-shaped flowers and oval
red berries. It is also said to be poisonous and should be kept down
in the same manner. Another "bitter-sweet" (Celaxtrus scandcns
L.) is a handsome wild twining vine of the Wahoo Family, which
is ornamental and not injurious,

t)4. DATURA STRAMONIUM L. jimson-weect. Thorn Apple. Devil's Apple

(A. I. 1.)

Stem green, stout, widely branched, 1-5 feet high ; leaves thin, ovate,
scallop-toothed, pointed, 3-8 inches long. Flowers large, solitary, erect,
short-stalked; corolla white, funnel-form, 3-4 inches long; calyx tubular,
i the length of corolla. Capsule dry, egg-shaped, about 2 inches long,
densely prickly, the lower prickles shorter. Seeds black, kidney-form,
Wrinkled and finely pitted, 4 itich long. (Fig. 92.)

A common, very ill-smelling, coarse and homely weed, occurring
in rich soil about barnyards, sites of old strawstacks and dwellings,

manure heaps, etc. June-Sept. An-
other species, the purple jimson or
purple thorn-apple (D. tatula L.),
stem purple, more slender and usually
taller, corolla violet or purplish, its
tube nearly white, and prickles of cap-
sule all long, occurs with it or in
similar places and is equally common
and stinking. The first named came
originally from Asia and the purple
species from Central America. The
name "jimson-weed" is a corruption
of Jamestown weed and was given
both because they first appeared in
this country about Jamestown, Vir-
ginia. Both species are powerfully
narcotic and poisonous and equally

Fig. 92. a, flowering spray; 6, fruiting capsule, obnoxious and Unsightly Weeds which

every farmer possessing the instinct.

of neatness should keep from his premises. Remedies: pulling or
cutting before the seed matures: cultivation.

Children are frequently poisoned by eating the leaves or seeds
or sucking the flowers, and cattle are known to have been poisoned
by eating the leaves of young plants in hay. The poison causes
headache, nausea and great thirst, followed by dilated pupils, loss
of sight and, in extreme cases, convulsions and death.

The dried leaves and seeds of both jimson-weeds are powerful

WEEDS OF THE ElCiWORT FAMrhY. 120

anodynes and are much used in medicine, especially for asthma and
kindred troubles. They are mostly imported, though they can be
easily gathered and prepared for sale by farm boys and girls. The
leaves should be stripped from the plant when the latter is in
flower, and carefully dried in the sbado. In the collecting of the
seed the capsules should be picked when they are quite ripe but yet
green in color, and dried for a few days, when they will burst and
allow the seeds to be shaken out. These should then be thoroughly
dried. The leaves are sold under the name of stramonium at 2 to
8 cents a pound : while the seeds bring 3 to 7 cents a pound.

THE FIGWORT FAMILY.— SCROPHULARIACE^.

Chiefly herbs with perfect, complete and usually irregular flow-
ers, having the calyx 4-5-toothed, -cleft or -divided ; corolla with the
petals united, usually 2-lipped ; stamens 2-4, rarely 5, inserted on
the corolla and alternate with its lobes; ovary 2-celled with many
ovules.. Fruit a 2-celled and usually many seeded capsule which
splits lengthwise.

A family of 2,500 or more known species widely distributed but
most abundant in temperate regions. The flowers, which are mostly
2-lipped, resemble those of the mints, but the plants are usually
easily distinguished from the mints, by the cylindric stems and 2-
celled, many seeded pods. Moreover the figworts are mostly bitter-
ish whereas the mints are fragrant or aromatic. Among the more
common of the 50 or more wild forms growing in the State are the
mullens. toad-flaxes, turtle-heads, beard-tongues, monkey-flowers,
speedwells, foxgloves, gerardias, painted-cups and louseworts. Only
a half dozen or so are weeds and of these only the common mullen
belongs to the first class.

1)5. YKKBASCTM TIIAPSUS L. Common Mullen. Woolly Mullen. Velvet

Phuit. Aaron's Rod. (B.I.I.)

Stem stout, erect, densely woolly, wing-angled by the bases of the
leaves, 2-7 feet high; leaves alternate, oblong, thick. 4-12 inches long.
Flowers yellow, sessile, in a long, dense cylindrical spike; corolla wheel-
shaped; stamens 5, unequal, the .3 upper or shorter ones woolly. Cap-
sules slightly longer than the calyx. Seeds rough, not wi'nged. (Fig. 93.)

A very common and well known weed, occurring in dry or
sandy soil along roadsides and embankments, and especially on the
slopes of old abandoned fields and in poor half-barren pastures.
June-Sept. The plant produces the first year a broad, thick and
veiy handsome rosette of root leaves which, during the winter, He

130

THE INDIANA WEED BOOIv.

close to the ground. They, as well as the stem leaves, have much
the feeling of flannel, being covered with fine branching hairs that
interlace and form a felt-like surface. This rosette aids in con-
serving the water about the roots, the felt covering protecting the
leaves from cold in winter and the fierce heat rays in summer, and
also rendering them unpalatable to sheep and
cattle. The leaves in the rosette vary in
length so as not to wholly cut off the sunshine
one from another and those of the stem are
directed upward so as to cast little shade on
those below. From the center of the rosette
springs the stout flowering stalk of the second
season.

The rosette furnishes shelter and protection
to many an insect during the long winter
months. On one January day the writer
found snugly at home, between and beneath the
leaves of a single mullen, 4 cutworms, 7 chinch-
bugs, 3 tarnished plant bugs and a number of
others less injurious, enough to have produced
10,000 like themselves the next season. By
keeping the farm and roadsides clear of mullen
and similar plants, the number of injurious in-
sects will be greatly lessened as they will lack
suitable places to hibernate. In late sura me r,
when the rosette and lower stem leaves are
dead and the plant is nearly through its bloom-
ing, the mullen stalk is a very rough and
homely looking object, only the few golden
yellow flowers at top showing a bit of beauty.
There is no surer evidence of a negligent
farmer than to see his fields overrun with these ungainly stalks.
Producing as it does a vast number of seeds which will retain their
vitality for years, the plant can only be kept down by killing be-
fore its seeds ripen. This can best be done by deep cutting with
hoe or spud in late autumn or early spring.

The leaves and petals of the mullen are used extensively in
medicine for coughs, catarrh, nervousness and inflammation. The
dried leaves are said to be often smoked like tobacco to relieve nasal
catarrh and affections of the throat, and an infusion of the roots
is a popular country remedy for malaria,. In gathering the leaves
and petals for sale both should be collected when the plant is in

Fig. 93. (After Henkel.)

WEEDS OF TUB FIGWORT FAMILY. 131

blossom and carefully and thoroughly dried. The petals absorb
moisture quickly and when dry must be kept in tightly corked
bottles. Both are sold under the name of verbascum. the leaves
bringing from 3 to 5 cents and the petals 25 to 75 cents a pound.
Although an immigrant from Europe, it is said to be much more
common in its adopted country — "the land of the free"- - not only
for humans but for weeds. John Burroughs in his "October
Abroad" says: "I have come three thousand miles to see the mill-
ion cultivated in a garden and christened 'the velvet plant.' : In
Europe it has more than 20 common names, one of which is "hag-
taper," as its stalks were once used for candle wicks and funeral
torches and were supposed to be borne about by witches while
tending their cauldrons of stewing herbs.

90. A7ERBASCi:M BLATTARIA L. Moth Mlllleil. (B. I. 2.)

Erect, slender, glabrous, simple, 2-4 feet high ; upper leaves oblong or
ovate, toothed, pointed, sessile or clasping, 4-2 inches long; lower and
basal ones often short-stalked, sometimes 1 foot long. Flowers short-
stemmed in a long slender raceme; corolla yellow or cream-colored with
a brown or purplish eye; stamens with violet hairs. Seeds very small.
6- sided, brown, pitted.

Frequent in open pastures, timothy meadows and along road-
sides in dry soil. June-Oct. Both it and the common mullen
differ from other figworts in having wheel-shaped, not 2-lipped,
corollas and 5 instead of 2 or 4 stamens. The moth mullen is said
to repel cockroaches, whence the specific name blaffdi'ift, the iirst
name of the more common roach being Blatta. The odor ol' its
flowers is delicate and pleasing, sufficient to attract unto themselves
many a moth and other insect. One which is usually to be found
on it and its larger cousin, is a small, thick-bodied, grayish snout
beetle,* whose young live in the pods and feed upon the mullen
seeds. As a weed of timothy meadows the moth mullen takes high
rank since its seeds are very common among those of timothy.
Remedies : hoe cutting in early spring ; cultivation ; clean timothy
seed.

97. LINARIA LIN ARIA L. Butter and Eggs. Toad-flax. Eanstead. (P. I. 2.)
Stems slender, erect, pale green, 1-3 feet high ; leaves very numerous,
mostly alternate, linear, sessile, entire. Flowers in a dense terminal raceme;
corolla 2-lipped, spurred at the base, pale yellow, the throat orange-colored,
the awl-shaped spur darker and almost as long as the remainder of Hit;
corolla; stamens 4, 2 long, 2 short. Seeds numerous, black, winged, 1/12
inch across. (Fig. 94.)

*Gymnetron teter Fat).

132

THE INDIAN V WEED BOOK.

Frequent in dense tufts or patches along banks, roadsides and
railways where it has escaped from cultivation. June-Sept. In

the country it is a well known
plant which a half century ago was
grown for ornament much more
commonly than now. In many of
the eastern States it has spread
over upland meadows and pastures
until H is accounted one of the
worst of weeds, and it is very likely

^\ s$^f [k ^ *'° ^° ^e same "1 Indiana. It has
\ ' — -TtT a disagreeable odor and spreads

both by underground stems and
seeds, taking almost exclusive pos-
session of the soil. Although the
flowers are somewhat showy it is a
weed which should be destroyed
before it is too late to prevent ex-
tensive spreading. Remedies : con-
tinuous cultivation and heavy crop-
Fig. 94. Showing flower and seed. (After Vasey.) ping; cutting Several tilHCS Cadi

season and then salting or using coal-oil or sulphuric acid on the
rootstocks.

OS. SCROPHULARIA MARYLANIHCA L. IMleWOl't.

Stem slender, 4-angled, erect, widely
branched, 3-10 feet high ; leaves ovate,
long-stalked, pointed, sharply toothed,
3-12 inches long. Flowers small, nu-
merous, in loose, compound cymes ;
corolla irregular or somewhat 2-lipped,
dull green without, brownish-purple
within, the upper lip erect, the lower
spreading ; perfect stamens 4. the fifth
represented by a deep purple scale on
the roof of the corolla tube. Capsule
egg-shaped, many-seeded. Seeds dull
brown. 1/32 Irch long, grooved and
roughened. (Fig. 05.)

Figwort. (P. N. 3.)

Fig. 95. Single flower above; fruit below.
(After Britton and Brown.)

Frequent along fence-rows, bor-
ders of thickets and damp woods in
rich moist soil. June-Get. It varies
greatly in height and date of blooming. The name Scrophularia
was given this or a closely allied plant because it is used as a remedy
for scrofula and other skin diseases, also as an anodyne to allay

WEEDS OF THE FIGWORT FAMILY. 138

restlessness, insomnia., etc. The roots are the part used, and if
gathered for sale should he thoroughly eleaned and dried. Rem-
edies : pulling or grubbing ; cutting several times each season.

00. VKKONICA PKRKGRINA L. Purslane Speedwell. Neckweed. (A. N. 2.)

Stem erect or ascending, glabrous, simple or branched, 3-0 inches
high; lower leaves opposite, oval or oblong, short-stalked; upper ones
alternate, oblong or linear, sessile, each with a short-stalked flower in its
axil. Flowers very small, nearly white; corolla wheel-shaped, shorter than
calyx. Capsule nearly circular, notched above, many seeded. Seeds flat.
very small.

Common in moist waste and cultivated grounds, along roadsides,
in lawns, etc. April— Oct. The name neckweed was given it from
its formerly being used in scrofulous affections of the neck. This
is the most common of a small group of weedy plants, known as
speedwells or veronicas, All have only two stamens inserted at
the base of the upper lobe of the 4-parted, wheel-shaped corolla.
Most of them are less than a foot high, and the leaves are in part
or all opposite, the flowers pale blue or white and the capsule or
pod flat, usually heart-shaped or notched above. They are named
for St. Veronica who, according to an old tradition, was a Jewish
maiden who wiped with her handkerchief the drops of anguish
from the face of the Savior when the latter was on the way to the
cross. The sacred features remained impressed upon the linen and
from the fancied resemblance of the blossoms of the speedwells to
this hallowed relic, the name Veronica was given them. In Ger-
many the speedwell is known as the flower of truth and the emblem
of friendship. Its name, like the forget-me-not, is a good wish at
parting.

Tn addition to the one de-
scribed three others which are
common throughout the State are
(a) the corn speedwell (V. arv en-
sis L. ), annual, stem spreading,
leaves pubescent, toothed, flowers
solitary in the axils, capsule heart-
shaped, deeply notched; (6) the
common speedwell (V. offiri-nalis
L., "Fig. f)6), perennial, prostrate,
flowers in terminal spike-like ra-

Fig.%. Common speedwell; a, flower; b, fruit, <'MMieS, k'HVOS OVJll, stalked, hairy,

capsule triangular, broadly and
shallowly notched, and (c) the thyme-leaved speedwell (V. serpyl-

134

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

lifolia L. ) , perennial, flowers in terminal spikes, leaves all opposite,
glabrous, capsule broader than long, obtusely notched. All begin
flowering in March or April and continue until frost. They are
weeds in that they grow where grass or other crops should be found.
Remedies: thorough cultivation; crowding out with clover; pulling
or cutting from laAvns and yards.

THE TRUMPET-CREEPER FAMILY.— B1GNONIACE.K.

Woody vines or trees with opposite compound or simple leaves
and large showy clustered or axillary flowers. Corolla funnel-
form, bell-shaped or tubular, 5-lobed and somewhat 2-lipped; sta-
mens 2 or 4, inserted on the tube of the corolla and alternate1 \vith
its lobes; ovary 2-celled, many ovuled. Fruit a 2-valved capsule,
opening lengthwise. Seeds flat, transverse, winged.

Chiefly a tropical family represented in the eastern United
States and Indiana by only 4 species, viz., the cross-vine, a hand-
some woody vine of southern range, found in Indiana only in the
lower Wabash valley ; two species of catalpa trees and the trumpet-
creeper. The latter is often very troublesome and is therefore in-
cluded in this list of weeds

100. TECOMA RADICANS L. Trumpet-creeper. Trumpet-flower. (P. N. 2.)
A woody vine, climbing to a height of 20 to 40 feet by means of air

rootlets ; leaves pinnate or 7-11 -divided ; leaflets ovate, short-stalked,

sharply toothed. Flowers in clusters of 2-9: calyx 5-toothed, leathery;

corolla orange and scarlet, 2-3 inches long. Capsules robust. 4-6 inches

long, narrowed at both ends. Seeds broadly
winged on the edges, the wings frayed. (Fig.
97.)

Frequent along fence-rows, borders
of thickets, etc., especially in sandy allu-
vial soils. June-Aug. Common in culti-
vation in the northern part of the State
but southward, where it is native, the
numerous sprouts give much trouble in
meadows and cultivated fields, where they
spring up by hundreds in strips along
the fences or wherever the old plant can
get some sort of support, being especially
annoying in the river bottom fields of the
larger streams. Remedies: repeated grub-
bing; abandonment of fences and thor-
ough cultivation of the infested areas,

Fig. 97. Spray of flowers: a, pod; I,
Jl^wiiiged seed. (After Watson.)

WEEDS OF THE PLANTAIN FAMILY.

Where kept within bounds the trumpet-creeper is queen of all
our twining or trailing shrubs. When in the prime of the bloom-
ing period its large pinnate leaves out-rival the emerald in their
shade of green. Then, as one drives along some country lane or
roadway, high in air it can be seen, clambering over fence stake
and bushy shrub, its great orange and scarlet flowers conspicuous
for rods away and attracting unto themselves many a humming-
bird and bumble-bee. Tis in the angles of old rail fences that it
finds a home most congenial to its taste. There rail and bush and
shrub furnish a ready support to which its aerial rootlets freely
cling, and there it forms many a snug retreat in which the nest
of woodland songster is securely hidden.

THE PLANTAIN FAMILY.— PLANTAGTNACEyE.

Chiefly stemless herbs with basal leaves in clumps, and small, in-
conspicuous flowers in dense terminal spikes or heads on leafless
flower-stalks. Calyx 4-parted, persistent ; corolla 4-lobed, thin, dry,
membranous, withering but remaining on the spike ; stamens 4,
rarely 2, inserted on the tube of the corolla; ovary 2-celled. Fruit
a 2-celled several seeded capsule, which opens by the top falling
away as a lid. (Figs. 13, a- 14, c.)

A family of about 200 species, represented in Indiana by 8
species of plantain or ribwort belonging to the genus Plantago.
All have the leaves strongly ribbed and the small whitish flowers
borne in a bracted spike or head on a leafless stalk which springs
from the center of the basal tuft of leaves. Among the 8 two are
weeds of the first class, while a third promises as bad. The stems
of all are invisible, being short and underground, and as the flowers
of all depend upon the wind to carry the pollen, the corolla is
therefore almost useless and has lost whatever color it may have
once possessed. The seeds of all plantains are more annoying than
the weeds themselves, causing much extra, expense in cleaning the
seeds of grasses and Clover, with which they are very common.

To bring about that cross-fertilization so necessary to the suc-
cess of plant life, the plantains have during the ages past evolved
an ingenious method. Each plantain flower has both stamens and
pistils but the pistils mature first and are fertilized by pollen
blown to them from some neighboring plant. After the pistils
have matured the stamens ripen, the anthers hanging out on their
long slender filaments or stalks so as to have their pollen discharged
by every passing breeze. On each spike the lower flowers open

136

TirK INDIANA WKRD BOOK.

first and on one-half through blooming the stamens of the lower
part are shedding their pollen while the pistils of the upper por-
tion are being fertilized. Thus the pollen cannot fall from the sta-
mens to another flower on the same stalk and self-fertilization is
avoided.

101. PI.ANTAGO .MAJOR L. Common Dooryard Plantain. Greater Plantain.
(P. I. 1.)

Leaves spreading or half erect,
long-stalked, broadly ovate, smooth
or slightly hairy, dull pointed, 3-11
ribbed, rounded at base, 1-10 inches
long. Spikes several, dense, blunt at
top, 2-10 inches long. Capmile egg-
shaped, the top separating at about
the middle, 8-16 seeded. Seeds
angled, very irregular in shape,
greenish-brown to black, 1/1G inch
long, about * as wide. (Fig. 98.)

Very common in dooryards,
along walks and roadsides and in
enriched cultivated fields. May-
Gel, This plantain delights in a
compact clayey soil, and with the
knot-grass combats most fiercely
for supremacy along the sides of
narrow footpaths in unkempt country dooryards and the cow-paths
of old pastures. It is one of the most common and best known of
the social weeds and by the Indians was known as the "white man's
foot." Longfellow refers to it by this name when in speaking of
the English settlers in his poem Hiawatha, he says:

"Wheresoever they tread, beneath them
Springs a flower unknown among us,
Springs the white man's foot in blossom."

Hardy, tough and difficult to eradicate, its thick rootstocks and
many seeds give it more tban an average chance in the struggle for
life. It is especially troublesome in manured land sown to clover,
as its seeds are very common among those of clover. Remedies :
continuous cultivation ; crowding out with clover or rye ; reseeding
bare spots in meadows and pastures; hand pulling or cutting below
the crown with sharp knife, hoe or spud in yards.

The leaves of the dooryard plantain were formerly much used
as a convenient and popular dressing for wounds, blisters and other
sores. Two of the old English names for it are "wound-weed" and

swer; 6, fruit, a pyxis. (After
Watson.)

WEEDS OF THE PLANTAIN FAMILY.

187

"healing blade," and it was probably the first "shin-plaster"
used by man. This property was known to Shakespeare, as in
Romeo and Juliet, Aet I, se. 2, we find:

"Ram. — Your plantain leaf is excellent for thai.
Bcn.—Vur what, I pray thee?
Rout. — For your broken shin."

On account of its so persistently haunting the pathways of man
the Germans have a story that the plantain was formerly a maiden
who watched so patiently by the roadside for her absent lover that
the fairies took pity on her and changed her into this wayside
plant.

Mingled with the common plantain in dooryards, especially in
northern Indiana, is the pale plantain (P. ruydii Dec.) distin-
guished by its brighter green and thinner leaves, less dense and
more pointed spikes and the separation of the lid of the capsule
much below the middle. The seeds are also much larger and fewer,
there being only 4-9 in each pod.

102. FLANTAGO LANCKOLATA L. Buckhoru. Narrow Plantain. Ribwort.

Rib-grass. English Plantain. (P. or B. T. 1.)

Rootstock short, erect, the leaves with tufts of brown hairs at their
bases; leaves oblong-lanceolate, erect or spreading, pointed, narrowed at
base, 3-5 ribbed, 2-12 inches long. Flower-stalks several, slender, grooved,
sometimes 2 feet or more tall ; spikes very dense, cylindric, blunt, 1-4
inches long. Capsule oblong, blunt, 2-seeded. the top separating at about
the middle. Seeds oval, deeply grooved lengthwise or boat-shaped on the
inner side, chesnut brown, 1/10 inch long, smooth and shining. (Fig. 00.)

Very common along railways, in
waste places and especially in mead-
ows. April-Oct. lii the last five
years this rib-grass or buckhorn, as
it is commonly called, has come to be
one of the worst pests known in the
clover and timothy fields of the
State, especially those with light
sandy or gravelly soil, or on clayey
uplands. Its seeds are widely dis-
tributed with those of clover, alfalfa
and other hays and in manure, and
its thick rootstocks give it an ad-
vantage over many weeds. It is es-
pecially annoying to dealers in clover-

Fig. 99. (After Clark.)

seed as it is very difficult to thoroughly separate its seed. Remedies :

138

THE TXDTAXA WEED BOOK.

sowing clean seed; plowing under badly infested fields and culti-
vating in some other crop until every plantain top has been de-
stroyed ; where but a few plants are present, deep cutting with hoe
cr spud ; increased fertilization and crowding out with heavy crops
of clover; in lawns and pastures, digging and reseeding, or per-
sistent mowing. In those favored localities where it is not yet
known farmers should be on the especial lookout for it and quickly
destroy every plant which comes to their notice.

In England, where it is very common, this plantain has a score
or more of common names among which are ripple-grass and kemp-
seed. The name ''"kemps" comes from the old Danish kcempe, a
warrior, and is applied to the heads of the plantain by children
who play with the flower-stalks and try to knock off the heads of
each other's mimic weapons. The heads when they appear hi
spring are blackish and the children, when they first see them, re-
peat the following rhyme :

"Chimney sweeper all in black,
Go to the brook and wash your back,
Wash it clean or wash it none ;
Chimney sweeper, have you clone?''

103. PLANTAGO ARISTATA Michx. Bracted Plantain. (A. N. 2.)

Leaves linear, erect, pointed, dark
green, 3-ribbed, narrowed at base.
Flower-stalks erect, longer than the
leaves, G-1S inches tall ; spikes very
dense, hairy, cylindric, 1-G inches long,
the flowering bracts 3-10 times the
length of calyx. Capsule 2-seeded. Seeds
dark brown, 1/10 inch long, one side
rounded and with a distinct groove
across its middle, the other side flat
and lengthwise grooved. (Fig. 100.)

A western plant introduced in
baled hay and seeds and becoming
common along roadsides, railways
and in meadows. May— Oct. First
noted by the writer in Yigo County
in June, 1888. It is most commonly
a winter annual and is becoming
more abundant in meadows each
vear. Bv farmers it is often called

Fig. 100. a, mature plant with grass-like leaves " •, ....

and bracted spikes; b, top of fruit with corolla at- briSUV buckliom to distinguish
tached, the 2 seeds hanging in it; d, seed. (After

it from the more common species.

WEEDS OF THE TEASEL FAMILY. 13!)

Its seeds are readily told by the cross-groove on the rounded side.
Remedies: hand digging in late fall or early spring; cutting before
the seeds ripen ; thorough cultivation.

The dwjii't' white plantain (/'. virfjrnic.a L.), leaves ovate or
spoon-shaped, white hairy, stamens 4, corolla lobes erect and closed
over the tops of the capsules, occurs frequently in dry or sandy
soil, but does not promise to spread enough to do much harm.

THE TEASEL FAMILY.— DI PSAOACE/E.

Herbs with opposite leaves, mostly prickly stems, and perfect
flowers in dense oblong heads surrounded by an involucre. Calyx
cup-shaped, the tube attached to the ovary ; corolla oblique or 2-
lipped, 4-lobed; stamens 4, inserted on the tube of the corolla and
alternate with its lobes; ovary 1-celled. Fruit an achene, its tip
crowned with the persistent calyx- lobes.

In the Old World this family is represented by 140 species, four
of which have been introduced and now grow wild in the eastern
United States. Of these only one occurs in Indiana. The sweet
scabious is a cultivated member.

101. DIPSACVS SYLVESTRIS Huds. Wild or Common Teasel. English Thistle.
(B. I. 2.)

Stem stout, ?>-6 feet high, with numerous short prickles on the
branches, midribs of the leaves and involucre ; leaves sessile, lanceolate or
oblong, the upper pointed, entire, often united at base, the lower blunt-
toothed or somewhat divided, often 1 foot long. Flowers purplish, $ inch
long, in dense cylindric heads 3-4 inches long, each flower with a bract
or scale beneath it which ends in an awl-shaped barbed awn longer than
the flower itself; leaves of the involucre linear, curved upward, as long
as the head. (Fig. 101.)

Common in dry soil in southern
Indiana along roadsides, waste places
and barren slopes of old abandoned
fields. July-Sept, The flowers be-
gin to blossom in a ring about the
middle of the head and gradually
open towards both base and apex.
The large heads, spiny involucre and
prickly leaves make the teasel a strik-
ing and rather handsome roadside
plant when in blossom but an un-
sightly weed when dead. Remedies:
FiK. 101. (After Miiispaugh.) mowing as often as the heads are

140 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

formed; deep cutting in early summer; in old fields, increased fer-
tilization and cultivation.

The fuller's teasel (D. fullonum L.) is generally regarded as a
cultivated form of the wild plant. It has the points of the chaffy
bracts hooked at the tip and the heads were formerly used by cloth
manufacturers as a kind of card to raise the nap on woolen cloth.

In Europe it is used to foretell the weather, it being said that
"tezils, or fuller's thistle being gathered and hanged up in the
house, where the air may come freely to it, upon the alteration of
cold and windy weather will grow smoother, and against rain will
close up its prickles."

THE BELL-FLOWER FAMCLY.— CAMPANULACE^E.

Herbs with alternate leaves, acrid and usually milky juice and
perfect scattered flowers. Calyx 5-lobed or parted, its tube at-
tached to the ovary; corolla 5-lobed or more or less 2-lipped, the
petals rarely wholly separate; stamens 5, free from the corolla,
alternate with its lobes; ovary 2-5 celled. Fruit a capsule with
very small and numerous seeds.

By recent botanists the bell-flowers and lobelias have been com-
bined into one family of 1,500 or more species of wide geographic
distribution. It is represented in Indiana by 6 bell-flowers and 7
lobelias, 3 of which are common enough to be termed weeds, though
none of them are very aggressive. To the family belong some of
our most handsome wild flowers. The tall bell-flower, with its blue
bell-like blossoms in a long loose terminal spike, is frequent along
the borders of moist woods and thickets throughout the State, while
the little harebell and the marsh bell-flowers occur only in the
northern counties. One of the lobelias is

"The cardinal-flower whose heart-red bloom
Glows like a living coal upon the green
Of the midsummer meadows."

It waves its red pennons above the sedges of many a swamp and
among all our wild plants which bloom from August to October it
is without a peer for brilliancy of color and gracefulness of form.
The flowers of the lobelias resemble those of the mints and figworts,
but the stamens or anthers are always more or less united and the
corolla is split to the base on one side.

K)5. LEGOUZIA PERFOLTATA L. Venus' Looking Glass. Clasping Bell-
flower. (A. N. 3.)

Stem very leafy, half erect or prostrate, often branched near the
base, G-2-l inches long; leaves shell-shaped, scalloped, rounded or broadly

WEEDS OF THE BRLI, -FLOWER FAMILY.

141

ovate, clasping the stem. Flowers solitary or 2-3 together in the axils of
the upper leaves ; corolla wheel-shaped, blue or violet, \ inch or more

broad; stamens o, separate,
middle. (Fig. 102.)

Fig. 102. Showing 2 forms of flowers and sin-
gle fruit. (After Britton'and Brown.)

Capsule oblong, opening .just below the

Common in dry or sandy rather
poor soil in southern Indiana; infre-
qnont northward. May-Sept, It oc-
curs mostly in grain fields, thinly
seeded meadows and waste places, the
flowers closing by noon or mid-
afternoon. Those on the lower part
of the stern are usually rudimentary,
without corolla. The name was first
given to a European species because
of some fancied resemblance to an old-
fashioned round mirror. Remedies:
increased fertilization; pulling or
cutting before the seeds ripen.

10(5. LOBKLIA SYPIIITJTICA L. Great Lobelia. (P. N. :>.)

Erect, simple, rather stout, somewhat hairy, 1-3 feet high ; leaves
thin, numerous, oblong or oval, pointed, 2-f> inches long. Flowers in a
dense, leafy bracted, loose spike, showy, bright blue, rarely white, 1 inch
long; corolla 2-lipped, split to the base on one side, the upper lip with 2
erect lobes, the lower spreading and 3-cleft ; anthers united into a tube or
ring. Capsule 2-valved, opening at the top.

Common in low moist grounds along ditches and borders of
marshes, streams and thickets. July-Sept. Except in color its
flowers are similar to but stouter than those of the cardinal-flower.
A striking and handsome member of our late summer flora, and
occupying for the most part only wa.ste ground, it is doubtful if it
should be classed as a weed. Tt spreads both by seeds and offshoots
from the base of the stem and may be controlled by mowing several
times for one season or by grubbing.

107. LOBELIA IN FT ATA L. Indian Tobacco. Asthma Weed. (A. N. 3.)

Stem erect, leafy, usually much branched, 1-2 feet high ; leaves thin,
ovate or oblong, blunt-toothed, short-stalked or sessile. Flowers small,
pale blue, \ inch long, in loose, bracted, spike-like racemes. Capsule in-
Hated, \ inch long, many seeded, cross-veined between the ribs. (Fig. 103.)

Common in dry open woods, meadows, ^pastures and borders of
fields. July-Oct. It contains an acrid milky juice, and the whole
plant is poisonous when eaten, but its leaves, flowering tops and
seeds are much used in medicine as an expectorant, sedative and

142

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

emetic. Horses and cattle seem to know of its acrid qualities, care-
fully browsing the palatable herbage all about it, yet leaving its

stalk untouched. Remedies: hand
pulling or mowing before the seeds
ripen ; increased fertilization in old
fields.

In gathering Indian tobacco for
sale the leaves and tops should be col-
lected in late summer, dried in the
shade and then kept in covered ves-
sels. The seeds are very small, 400
to 500 in each capsule. The dried
leaves and tops bring from 3 to 8
cents and the seeds 15 to 20 cents per
pound. They are sold under the name
of lobelia.

THE CHICORY FAMILY.—
CICHORIACE.E.

Herbs usually with acrid or bitter
Fig. IDS. (After Vasey.) milky juice, alternate or basal leaves,

and yellow, rarely pink or blue flowers in dense compound heads on
a common receptacle and surrounded at base with one or more
rows of scale-like bracts called the involucre. Flowers all alike,
perfect; calyx tube surrounding and firmly joined to the ovary
and usually having on its top a pappus of scales or bristles to aid
in the distribution of the seed ; corolla with its petals united into
a long or short tube and a strap-shaped, usually 5-toothed, upper
portion called a ray; anthers united into a tube; ovary 1-celled,
1-seeded. Fruit an achene. (Figs. 1, a; 10, g.)

Until recently this family and the next were united with the
great family of Composite, comprising over 11,000 species of known
plants. By modern botanists the Composite family has been split
up into three, of which the dandelions, ragweeds and sunflowers
are respectively among the best known and typical members of
each. The group, with all the flowers of the head rayed or ligu-
late and the juice of stem and leaves milky, is separated from other
Composite, having all the central flowers of the head tubular and
the juice very rarely millsy, under the name of the Chicory family.
This separation is more for convenience in classification than for
natural reasons The strap-shaped corolla (Fig. 10, g) may be
supposed to be formed by splitting a tubular one down one side

WEEDS OF TMK CHICORY FAMILY.

143

nearly to the ovary, the five teeth at the end of the ray in the
dandelion flower representing the five united petals of the original
1 ube. Similar but usually much broader ray-flowers are found in a
circle around the head of tubular ones in many of the true Com-
posite. To the Chicory family belong about 30 species growing
wild in Indiana, among them being the dandelions, sow-thistles,
wild lettuce and hawkweeds.

108. CICHORIUM INTYBUS I>. Chicory. Wild Succory- (P. I. 2.)

Stein stiff, much branched, 1-5 feet high, from a long deep tup-root;

basal leaves spreading, spoon-shaped in outline, 3-6 inches long, narrowed

at base, sharply cut-lobed, the segments
turned backwards ; upper ones much smaller,
oblong or lanceolate, partly clasping. Flow-
ering heads numerous, 1 inch or more broad,
1-4 together in sessile axillary and terminal
clusters ; flowers several, bright blue, rarely
white: pappus composed of 2 or 3 rows of
short blunt scales at the top of the black,
4-sided achenes. (Fig. 104.)

Frequent along roadsides and in pas-
tures, waste places and gardens in north-
ern Indiana ; scarce in the southern por-
tion. July-Sept. Occurs usually in
patches in dry soil, its blue flowers add-
ing a tinge of brilliant color along the
, roadways, though usually closing by

l<ig. 104. Spray of flowers, lower leaf and

root. (After Clark.) noon. The endive or garden succory, a

closely related species, is in England said to open its petals at 8
o'clock in the morning and close them at 4 in the afternoon, whence
the lines:

"On upward slopes the shepherds mark

The hour when, to the dial true,
Cichorium to the towering lark,
Lifts her soft eye, serenely blue."

Although a vile weed where growing wild, chicory under culti-
vation is a plant of many uses. The Romans used it as a salad and
pot-herb and it is related that "the leaves of chicory are boiled in
potage or broths for sicke and feeble persons that have hot, weak
and feeble stomachs, to strengthen the same." In Europe at the
present time its young leaves when well blanched are much used
for salad ; the tender roots when boiled and served with butter and
pepper are considered quite a delicacy, while the young leaves
when boiled as spinach, using two waters, rival those of spinach

141

THE INDIANA WEED BCOK.

or dandelion for greens. The tops and roots are grown there ex-
tensively for stock-food.

The principal use of the root, however, is as a substitute for or
an adulterant of coffee and persons accustomed to its use main-
tain that a mixture of 2 or 3 parts of good coffee to one of ground
roasted chicory is superior to and more economical than coffee
alone. More than 15 million pounds of chicory root are annually
imported into the United States from Belgium and other European
countries for the sole purpose of adulterating ground coffees.
Where escaped as a weed the chicory can be controlled by deep
cutting or grubbing with hoe or spud and prevention of seeding in
gardens.

109. TARAXACUM TARAXACUM L. Dandelion. Blowball. (P. I. 1.)

A sternless herb producing a cluster or rosette of spreading basal
leaves from the midst of which the leafless flower-stalk springs; leaves
oblong or spoon-shaped in outline, deeply and irregularly lobed or cut-
toothed, hairy when young, 3-10 inches long. Heads golden yellow. 1-2
inches broad, containing 150-200 flowers. Achenes or seeds greenish-
brown, spindle-shaped, narrowed above into a slender beak which in age
supports a globular mass of white hair-like pappus. (Figs. 1, a ; 6, h; 105.)

Very abundant everywhere in
grass-lands, as lawns, pastures,
meadows and along roadsides. In
flower practically every day in the
year that the weather is above the
freezing point, and when not in
flower getting ready to blossom. In
cities it is by far the worst weed
which persons desiring neat lawns
have to contend with. True, the
star-like golden flowers at times
shine forth from the green of blue-
grass lawn with beautiful effect,
but the aftermath in the shape of
unsightly flower stalks is not so

Fig. 105. 1, two flower stalks, one showing the ,

head closed, with double involucre, the inner erect, pleasing. The time from flowering
the outer deflexed, the other the head open; 2, sin- ., ,. „ -.

gle flower, showing reed, pappus, strap-shaped co- Until the dispersal 01 the SCeClS IS
rolla, and stamens united around the 2-parted style; ... .

J, achene; 4, pitted receptacle with single fruit. 8 to 10 days. As the myriad Seeds
(After Strasburger.)

are watted everywhere by means

of the pappus it is almost a hopeless task to keep the weed in sub-
jection. Remedies: reseeding' or resodding; digging witli spud or
an especial tool made for the purpose ; in fields and gardens, thor-
ough cultivation.

WEEDS OF THE C1JICOKY FAMILY. 14")

Aside from its l)eing a nuisance in lawns, the dandelion is not
a had weed, as its leaves are eaten by most stock and form the
basis of many a mess of greens for the dinner of the human. In
Europe the young leaves are often eaten in early spring as a salad
and near the larger cities of the Eastern States the plant is at
present extensively cultivated for greens. One of the best known
of the social weeds, it has followed man the world over, its short
underground stem and leaves being able- to withstand his constant
tread. Ever a favorite of children, it is the

"Dear common flower that blooms beside the way,
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold."

Many an hour of childhood has been happily spent in making
curls and necklaces from its hollow stems. The common name is
from the French dent -de-lion, meaning ''lion's tooth" and is said
to have been given it because the edge of the leaf looks like a row
of teeth on the jaw of a lion. In England it is often called the
"peasant's clock" because its flower opens very early in the morn-
ing and only in fair weather, while to dream of it is deemed a mis-
fortune as it is said to bring bad luck.

The root of the dandelion is thick, tapering, bitter, sometimes
20 inches long. It is used in medicine under the name taraxacum
as a tonic in diseases of the liver and in dyspepsia, For sale it
should be dug from July to September at which time the milky
juice is thicker and the root more bitter. After careful washing
and thorough drying it should be sold as soon as possible, as its
medicinal virtues decrease with age. More than 100,000 pounds
are imported each year, the price ranging from 4 to 6 cents per
pound. As common as the plant is in this country many a boy or
girl ought to make good wrages by collecting it for sale.

110. SONCHTS ASPER L. Spiny Sow-Thistle. (A. T. 2.)

Stem leafy, succulent, seldom branched, 1-7 feet high ; leaves alter-
nate, spiny-edged, sometimes lobed or divided ; lower and basal ones spoon-
shaped, upper oblong or lanceolate, clasping by a rounded base. Heads
numerous, many-liowered, 1 inch broad or less ; bracts in several over-
lapping rows, glabrous; receptacle Hat. naked; flowers pale yellow.
Achenes flat, truncate above, ribbed lengthwise, topped with a copius
pappus of soft fine white bristles. (Fig. 100.)

Common in waste places about cities and towns, along roadsides,
railways and the borders of old fields. May— Nov. The leaves are
very prickly along the margins, the cars at the base ol: the upper
ones being rounded and the seeds or achenes not ribbed crosswise.
In these respects it differs from another animal species, the corn-

[10]

146

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

mon sow-thistle (S. oleraceus L.), in which the lower leaves arc
often divided, the margins toothed but not prickly, the ears at base

pointed and the seeds with both cross and
lengthwise ribs. Both species are eaten
by sheep and infested pastures can be
cleared of them in that way. The young
leaves of the unprickly one are often used
as greens or eaten as salad. In corn-fields
which lie fallow for a year and in the un-
seeded shock rows of corn stubble wheat-
fields they are often abundant. Remedies :
cutting or pulling before the seeds ripen ;
burning mature plants.

In England the common sow-thistle is
Fig. ice. (After Miiispaugh.) known as "hare's lettuce" or "hare's
palace" from the shelter it is supposed to afford that animal as,
"if the hare come under it he is sure that no beast can touch hym."
Another superstitution is: "When hares are overcome with heat
they eat of an herb called hare's lettuce, and there is no disease in
this beast the cure whereof she does not seek for in this herb."

The perennial sow-thistle (*Sf. arvensis L.) has not yet been re-
corded from Indiana, but is one of the worst weeds of Ontario and
some of the eastern States, and occurs in northern Ohio. It lias the
bracts of the involucre glandular-hairy, the heads of flowers larger
and brighter yellow and spreads by deep running rootstocks as
well as by seeds. Remedies: deep cutting or digging; crowding
out with clover; sheep-grazing.

111. LACTUCA SCARIOTA L. Prickly Lettuce. Milk Thistle. (A. I. 1.)

Stem stiff, leafy, glabrous, usually much branched. 2-6 feet high ;
leaves oblong or lanceolate, toothed or deeply cut-lobed, sessile or clasp-
ing, their margins and midribs strongly prickly, the lowest sometimes 10
inches long and 3 inches wide, upper much smaller. Heads £ inch broad,
very numerous in a broad open panicle; flowers 6-12, yellow; involucre
cylindric. its outer bracts J the length of inner. Achenes flattened, brown,
oblong, widening upward then suddenly contracting into a narrow neck,
ribbed lengthwise, -J inch long; pappus of fine soft white hairs.

Abundant in waste places along railways, streets, alleys and
roadsides; also in old fields and gardens. June-Sept. From the
sow-thistles this and other forms of wild lettuce are separated
by having the upper end of the achenes or seeds tapering or beaked,
whereas in the sow-thistles they are truncate or squared off. The
prickly lettuce, like the majority of our vile weeds, came to us

WEEDS OF THE CHICORY FAMILY.

1.4.7

from Europe, reaching Massachusetts about 1863 and Indiana in
1884, since which time it has spread over the entire State. Each
plant produces from 8,000 to 10,000 seeds, which by aid of the
abundant pappus arc wafted far and wide by every passing breeze,
and are ready to sprout and grow wherever and whenever the
proper conditions of soil, moisture and temperature are present.
The numerous prickles and bitter milky juice prevent all animals
but sheep from feeding upon it. They eat it, especially the young
leaves, greedily and in pastures it can be kept down by them alone.
Its most aggressive character is its ability to growr anywhere and
everywhere that its seed can secure a covering of earth and so
from crevices in gutters into which a little soil has drifted, "from
stone heaps, weed-choked corners of fences and yards, roadways
and beaten paths it flourishes. But such poverty and ill usage are
by no means essential factors to its success, for it also springs up
in gardens, meadows and cultivated fields. Still the power to ex-
tract sufficient moisture and food from compacted and sunbeaten
earth, and thus to overtop competitors, and in the less favorable

spots to grow where few plants could live,
place it in the front rank of noxious an-
nual weeds. ": Remedies: repeated mow-
ing before the seeds ripen; burning ma-
ture plants; thorough cultivation.

A closely allied species, the "strong
scented lettuce" (L. virosa L., Fig. 107),
is very common in clover fields. It dif-
fers in having the leaves all entire and
lanceolate, the prickles on midribs and
edges shorter, and also in being a winter
annual, springing from the seed in au-
tumn and reaching maturity in May or
June of the next season. Both plants
when cut or broken stool freely, sending
up numerous spreading branches from
the lower part, so that they must be cut
with a hoe or pulled to prevent the ripen-
ing of the seeds. Both are "compass
plants," having the leaves twisted on the
stem so that their edges point up and down or vertical instead of
horizontal, and the ends for the most part point north and south.
The larger area of the leaves is therefore toward the east and west,

*J. C. Arthur, Bull. 52, Purd. Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta., 103.

vrfi

Fig. 107. Showin

the fruit with

bristly parachute-like pappus at end of a
long beak; a head of ripe fruits and a
head of flowers. (After Atkinson.)

148

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

and they are protected from the fierce rays of the sun which can-
not beat directly down upon them.

112. LACTUCA CANADENSIS L. Wild Lettuce. Tall Lettuce. (A. or B.

N. 3.)

Stem very leafy up to the flowers, branching above, glabrous, 3-12
feet high; leaves without prickles, the lower 6-12 inches long, sinuate
toothed or lobed, pale beneath ; upper lanceolate, entire, sometimes clasp-
ing. Heads numerous, J inch broad, flowers about 20, pale yellow. Achene
oval, very flat, about as long as the hair-like beak; pappus white. (Fig.
308.)

Common, especially in moist soil, along borders of woods,
thickets, fence-rows, roadsides and cultivated fields. July-Oct.

While not an aggressive weed it is an
unsightly one and should be cleaned out
of fence-rows and roadsides. Associated
with it are several other species of wild
lettuce, most common of which are the
arrow-leaved lettuce (L. sagittifdlia
Ell.) having the leaves all entire, the
flowers purplish-yellow, and the achene
longer than its beak; and the tall blue
lettuce (L. spicata Lam.) with deeply
lobed leaves, blue flowers and brown
pappus. The latter occurs frequently
in moist soil along the borders of up-
land thickets and fence-rows and is
among the tallest of our annual herbs, one specimen taken in Vigo
County measuring 14 feet, 4 inches in height. Remedies: mowing
before the seeds ripen ; abandoning fences and cultivating the land
thus redeemed.

113. HiERAciUM SCABRUM Michx. Rough Hawkweed. (P. N. 3.)

Stem stout, leafy, densely rough-hairy below and glandular-hairy
above, 1-4 feet high ; leaves oval or spoon-shaped, 2-4 inches long, sessile
or the lower short-stalked, finely toothed. Heads 2/3 inch broad, 30-50-
flowered, numerous in a rather broad panicle ; bracts of involucre in one
row, linear, glandular. Achenes blackish, cylindrical, truncate; pappus a
single row of rather stiff brown bristles.

Common in dry soil in open woods, thickets and recent clearings.
July-Sept. This and a half dozen other hawkweeds are found in
the State, occ,urring for the most part on the slopes and ridges of
high dry woodland pastures where the grass is thin. There in late
summer their ray flowers strive to outdazzle the sunlight with their
limpid yellow. Seldom noted except by the botanist they add their

. 108. (After Millspaugh.)

WEEDS OF THE CHICORY FAMILY.

14!)

mite of beauty to the woodland at a time when other flowers are

scarce. In no place are they numerous
enough to be very troublesome and in
general they can be kept down by close
grazing with sheep, or by mowing and
salting.

Full HOO species of those hawk-
weeds are known in various parts of

the world. 15 of which occur in the
eastern United States. Of those but
one., a European species, the golden
hawkweed or devil's paint brush (II.
aurautiacum L., Fig. 109), is an ag-
gressive form but it has not been re-
corded from the State. In New Eng-

Fig.109. Golden hawkweed. (After Clark.) jand ^ ig R serious pest in pastures am]

meadows and is spreading westward, having reached northeastern
Ohio some years ago. From the rough hawkweed it may be known
by having the leaves all basal and the heads nearly 1 inch broad,
with the flowers reddish-orange in hue. It spreads by runners as
well as by seeds and should be exterminated wherever a single
stalk appears. This can be done by grubbing or heavy salting.

THE RAGWEED FAMILY.— AMBROSIACE/E.

Annual or perennial herbs with alternate, rarely opposite,
leaves and small heads of greenish or white flowers surrounded at
base by an involucre of few bracts. In our weeds the male and
female flowers are in separate heads, the staminate (male) ones
above. Female or pistillate flowers without corolla, or this re-
duced to a short tube or ring; calyx attached to the 1-celled ovary;
pappus none; involucre of the heads bur-like or nut-like. Sterile
or male flowers usually with an inconspicuous funnel- form or
tubular 4-5 lobed corolla ; stamens 5, separate or nearly so.

A small family of about 5;1 species, mostly native of America
and many of them weeds. Formerly included with the Composite
but, like the dandelions, now separated for convenience. Only 8
species, known commonly as ragweeds and cockleburs, are recorded
from Indiana. Of these 4 are weeds of the first class.

114. AMBROSIA TRIFIDIA L. Great Ragweed. Horse- weed. Giant Rag-
weed. Kinghead. (A. X. 1.)

Erect, branched, rough-hairy, 3-10 feet high; leaves opposite, stalked,
deeply 8-5 lobed, lower often 1 foot wide; upper sometimes undivided,

150

THE INDIANA WKK-D BOOK.

sharply toothed. Sterile or male heads in racemes 3-10 inches long, their
involucres saucer-shaped, 3-ribhed ; receptacles naked ; fertile heads 1-3
together in the axils of the upper leaves. Fruit top-shaped, £ inch long,
5-7 ribbed and with 5-7 tubercles on the upper side. (Fig. 110.)

Abundant in alluvial or moist rich soil, often forming dens;-
thickets along the borders of streams, roadsides and bottom fields.

July-Oct. The name Ambrosia means
' ' food for the gods. ' ' Why it was used
as a generic name for the ragweed no
one knoweth. The man who. first used
it may have had the equine god in
mind, for horses are very fond of this
species, often forsaking other food for
its juicy leaves and branches. Among
the poorer classes about the larger
towns and cities quantities of it are
gathered in August and September to
be used instead of hay. Growing, as
it mostly does, in lowlands, the seeds
are scattered far and wide by over-
flowing waters. It is not a very ag-
gressive weed and can usually be easily
subdued by cultivation or by mowing
or pulling before the flowers open.

As one walks or drives along
streams or through low ground woodlands in early autumn he
whiffs its peculiar odor which is exhaled readily, bounteously, to
all comers. To some persons it is doubtless disagreeable, but to
the writer it is rich, strong, powerful — fit odor for the gods. The
plant itself is one of the largest of our annuals, often reaching, in
rich alluvial soil, a height of 16 or more feet in a. single season.
Both it and the common ragweed harbor a small ash-gray, long-
horned beetle (Dectes spinosus .Say), the larva? of which hibernate
in their stems. On the horse-weed the beetle is usually to be found
in June and July, resting in the angles between the leaves and stem.

115. AMBROSIA ARTEMISIJEFOLTA L. Ragweed. Roman Wormwood. Hog-
weed. (A. I. 1.)

Erect, much branched, finely hairy, 1-5 feet high ; leaves thin, mostly
alternate, once or twice divided, the lobes oblong. Racemes of sterile
heads numerous, 1-6 inches long, the receptacle chaffy. Fruit globular,
armed with 4-6 short acute teeth or spines. (Figs. 6, /; 111.)

Probably the most common and widely distributed weed in the

Fig. 110. Leaf, flowerins; branch and seed
(After Dewey.)

WEEDS OF THE RAGWEED FAMILY.

151

Fig. 111. 1, a staminate flower; 2, a fruit.
(After Vasey.)

State, occurring; everywhere in both cultivated and pasture land,

but especially abundant in stubble
fields after the crops have been har-
vested. July— Oct. The slender ra-
cemes of little green staminate flow-
ers, like knots or beads along the
stem, produce a bounteous crop of
yellow pollen which thickly coats
the clothing of whoever passes
through a clump of ragweed on an
August day. Both it and the great
ragweed are known as "hay- fever
plants,'' their pollen spores when
inhaled being popularly supposed to
germinate in the nostrils and irri-

^ml!}/fi£ & v£ ^a^e ^10 nasal membranes of persons

subject to the disease. The seeds or
fruit are common in clover seed and
retain their vitality for years when
buried in the soil, springing up
wherever the land is plowed or after
harvest when other plants are absent. Remedies: mowing or burn-
ing over stubble in September;
early fall plowing followed by disk
harrowing; use of clean seed; late
cultivation in hoed crops; sheep
gra/ing when the plants are young.
A prairie form, the lance-leaved
ragweed (.4. 1>i(lcnta1a Michx.) oc-
curs frequently in the western
counties of the State. From the
common form it differs in having
the .sterile heads sessile, not short-
stalked, and in the leaves being
lance-shaped, sessile, with one or
two sharp teeth near the base.

1 16. XANTHITM SPIAOSI M L. Spiny
Cocklebur. Paj^ei* Cocklebur.
P.unveed. (A. I. 1.)
Stein erect, much branched, 1-3

feet high; leaves lanceolate, pointed, *%• H2- «. mature plant; b, branch showing

spines and burs; c. bur; d, cross-section of bur
usually lobed or Cllt-tOOtlied, Shilling, showing 2 seeds, (After Dewey.;

152

THE IN D TANA WEED BOOK.

dark green, whitish woolly beneath ; axils each with a short-stalked, .'»-
pronged, yellow spine nearly 1 inch long. Bur oblong-cylindric, * inch
long, hairy and with 1 or 2 short, awl-shaped beaks and numerous short
hooked spines. (Fig. 112.)

This cocklebur has invaded Indiana from the south, where it is
very troublesome, and is recorded from a number of the southern
counties. Aug. -Oct. It is one of the most spiny of the American
weeds, and the hooked spines on its burs provide for Avide distribu-
tion by every passing animal. It is a native of tropical America
and, unlike the other cockleburs, occurs mostly in grass-land, as
pastures, meadows, and along roadsides, spreading even in strong
sod. The two seeds in the thick-walled bur retain their vitality
for years and care should be taken to destroy the first plants which
appear before the burs mature. Remedies: mowing several times
iii late summer; deep cutting with hoe or spud in May and June;
thorough cultivation for two or three successive seasons.

117. XANTHICM GLABRATUM DC. Common Cocklebur. Clotbur. (A. X. 1.)
Erect, rough, branching, 1-6 feet high ; leaves heart-shaped or ovate,
long-stalked, the lower often 8 inches wide, margins toothed or lobed ;
axils without spines. Burs oblong, nearly glabrous, f inch long, with '2
straight 2-toothed beaks and numerous smooth hooked spines. (Figs. 1,
e; 113.)

Abundant everywhere in rich cultivated soils, barnyards, waste
places and along roadsides. Aug.-Oet,
One of the worst of corn-field weeds in
river bottoms, and in pastures especially
annoying in wool and the manes of
horses. The burs with their two en-
closed seeds are widely distributed over
lowlands by annual overflows, and on
the. uplands by animals to which they
closely adhere. It is said that only one
of the 2 seeds will germinate the first
season, the other lying dormant for a
year. Another species, the American
cocklebur or hedgehog burweed (A".
canadense Mill.) is known from central
Indiana and probably occurs over most
of the State. It differs in having the
burs somewhat hairy or glandular with
the beaks hooked or incurved. Rein-
Fig. 113. (After Dewey.) pdipg . thorough cultivation; pulling be-
fore the burs are formed ; burning mature plants before plowing.

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY. 15o

THE THISTLE FAMILY.— COMPOSITE.

Herbs, rarely shrubs, having the flowers in a close head on a
common receptacle and surrounded by an involucre of few or many
scales or bracts arranged in one or more rows ; leaves varied in form
and position; receptacle naked or with chaffy scales, smooth or
pitted. Calyx tube of each flower firmly united to the ovary and
usually bearing on its summit a pappus of bristles, awns, teeth or
scales; corolla tubular, usually o-lobcd or 5-cleft, those of the mar-
ginal flowers often split to form a ray; stamens 5, borne on the
corolla, their anthers united into a tube. Fruit an achene, con-
sisting of the persistent wall of the calyx surrounding a single seed
and usually crowned with some sort of a pappus. (Figs. 10, g- 11,

/, g; 13, 6.)

A vast family comprising, as above defined, not less than 10,000
species of wide geographic distribution. Since the asters form an
important group, the members of the family are often called Aster-
worts. The name Composites is given to the family from the fact
that its members have their small yet perfect flowers densely
crowded together into a head, which is enclosed in an involucre or
cup formed of several circles of modified leaves called "bracts;"
this involucre performing the same protective function for the com-
pound mass that the calyx or outer green envelop does for the ordi-
nary separate flowers of other families. The object of this massing
together of a great number of small flowers into a large head is that
they may more easily and certainly attract the attention of insects
and thus secure their fertilization. Taken singly, the flowers are
too small and inconspicuous to attract separate attention, but by
huddling themselves together into a showy mass they have proven
themselves very successful plants; so much so, indeed, that the
family is by far the largest known in the vegetable world.

About 205 species of wild Composite} are known from Indiana,
194 being listed in Coulter's Catalogue. Among them, besides the
weeds described below, are the blazing-stars, golden-rods, asters,
everlastings, leaf-cups, rosin-weeds, cone-flowers, sunflowers, worm-
woods, Indian plantains and ragworts. It is preeminently a family
of weeds as, except from an aesthetic point of view, but three or
four of the 200 species are of the least benefit to the inhabitants
of the State. The few exceptions are used in medicines, a dose of
boneset or yarrow tea being occasionally given by some grand-
mother or quack doctor for a fancied ailment. But the lover of
nature, whose eye is ever on the search for the pleasing and the

154 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

beautiful, blesses the existence of these Composite, for the hues of
the asters, golden-rods, sunflowers, etc., absent, our late summer
and autumn scenery would lose much of the charm due to their
variety of color.

Since the number of species of Indiana weeds in this family are
so many they are divided into three groups, separated by the fol-
lowing simple key or table. This grouping is for convenience only,
and necessitates the changing of the order of these weeds as they
occur in the botanies.

KEY TO GROUPS OF INDIANA COMPOSITE WEEDS.

a. Heads without visible ray-flowers around the margins, the flowers
rarely yellow, all discoid or tuhular or the rays very rudimentary.

Group A., p. 154.

(id. Heads with one or more rows of prominent ray-flowers about the mar-
gins, those of center all tubular.

1>. Rays yellow. Group B., p. 168.

M). Rays white, blue or pinkish. Group C., p. JT5.

GROUP A.

To this group, having the flowers of the head all tubular, belong
our weeds known as iron-weeds, bonesets or snake-roots, everlast-
ings, wormwoods, fire weeds, burdock and thistles. With them are
also included the horse-weed, fcetid marigold, tansy and two or
three species of beggar-ticks or Spanish needles, which have the
rays rudimentary or shorter than the disk flowers.

118. YERXONIA FASCICL'LATA Michx. Western Iron-weed. (P. N. 1.)

Erect, branching, glabrous or sparingly hah^, 2-6 feet high ; leaves
thick, alternate, lanceolate, pointed, 3-6 inches long, sharply toothed.
Heads numerous, short-stalked, 20-30 flowered ; receptacle flat, naked ;
flowers reddish-purple; involucre bell-shaped, the bracts in several rows
all closely overlapping. Achenes cylindric, glabrous, 8-10 ribbed; pappus
of 2 rows of brownish bristles, the inner hair-like, the outer shorter.
chaffy. (Fig. 114.)

Very common throughout the State in permanent grass-lands
and along roadsides. July-Sept. One of the worst of pasture
weeds, crowding out the blue-grass, and in places taking almost
complete possession of the soil. The form above described is that
most commonly found in dry soil in open upland wooded pastures.
Associated with it in moist, rich bottom pastures are the tall iron-
weed (V. tuaxhnd Small) 5-10 feet high and having the leaves thin,
finely toothed, achenes hispid and inflorescence loosely branched
and open; and the eastern iron-weed (V. noveboracc-nsis L.), 3-12

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

155

Fig .114. Western Iron-weed .

feet high with the bracts of the involucre brownish-purple, tipped

with spreading awns.

The perennial roots of all
these are stout and fibrous, and
each autumn are filled with a suf-
ficient supply of nourishment to
give the stalk of the ensuing year
a good start in life. They radiate
in all directions from the base of
the stem, spreading over an area,
of several square yards and pene-
trating the soil in search of
moisture to such a. depth as to
render abortive any attempt of
man to pull the plant up bodily,
roots and all. The leaves are so
innutritions that none of the
higher animals, not even sheep,
will feed upon them.

The only insect enemies of the
iron-weeds, so far as noticed, are
the margined and black blister beetles* which attack the leaves
when other food is scarce, and a small gall-fly whose larvae feed
upon the juices of the flowering branches. They are also preyed
upon at times by the leaf and downy mildews and by several rusts,
but none of these serve to retard their growth to any great extent.
Many species of bumble-bees and butterflies visit the blossoms in
search of nectar and pollen, and thus aid materially in their fertil-
ization. The flowers in each head number, on the average, 25,
each of which produces a single seed. On one specimen of medium
size were counted 743 heads, so that 18,575 seeds, each capable of
becoming a fully developed iron-weed, were borne by that plant
alone, and the majority produce as many, or more. To secure a
broad dissemination each of these seeds bears at maturity a tuft or
pappus of light brown bristles, and by its aid the seed may be
wafted by the wind miles away from the parent plant. Again, as
the iron-weed gro\vs in greatest luxuriance in the lowland pastures
near small streams, many of the seeds fall upon the water and are
borne onward till they lodge against some bank or arc buried in
the sediment deposited by an overflow; places well suited for their
future growth. In these ways the weed is continually spreading

*Epicauta marginata Fab. and E. Pennsylvania! DeG.

156 THE JXDUXA WEED BOOK.

into pastures which have heretofore been entirely free from it.
Taking into consideration that it is a native plant and therefore
well suited to our soil ; the character of its roots ; the immense
number of seeds produced; the modes of their dissemination, and
its almost total exemption from the attacks of injurious insects, it
is no wonder that it is so well able to hold its own in the struggle
for existence, and also to increase in numbers from year to year.
Kemedies: mowing or hoe-cutting four times (in May, June, July
and August) each season, thus preventing the leaves from storing
nourishment in the roots: deep hoe-cutting and salting; thorough
cultivation where practicable. The first remedy Avill, if kept up
for two or three years, practically eradicate the weed.

It has been said that all things in nature have their use — that
nothing exists but for a purpose. It is the work of science to dis-
cover and make known the use of nature's objects, and day by day
her secrets are gradually being exposed, thereby advancing man in
civilization by enabling him to better control the ravages of those
existing forms which are injurious to his interests. If, however,
the iron-weed has a use, other than that shown in the beauty of
its flowers, no one has yet discovered it. But there is time, for of
the thousands of plant forms which exist, we know the uses of only
a few, as corn and hemp, ginseng and blood-root. Let us hope that
some valuable medicinal or other property will soon be discovered
in the iron-weed and a reason for its existence thereby pointed out
to the doubting humanity of the present.

Meanwhile the naturalist will go on admiring the beauty of its
bloom ; for however coarse and repulsive the stem and leaves may
appear, each head, with its 25 or 30 dainty florets so prettily
grouped within their protective cup, reveals a striking beauty to
the true lover of nature. And when in the glamour of an August
morn he stands upon a hillside and views acre upon acre of the
broad purple cymes waving in the valley beneath, all memories of
the plant as a pernicious Aveed are blotted from his mind by the at-
tractiveness of the scene before him.

110. Ei'PATORiuM PURPUREUM L. Jo-pye-weed. Trumpet-weed. Purple

P.oneset. (P. X. 3.)

Stem erect, simple or branched at top, green or purple. 3-12 feet
high; leaves thin, in whorls of 3-0, oval or lanceolate, stalked, pointed,
sharply toothed, 4-12 inches long. Heads numerous in a more or less
elongated, branched cluster, 5-15 ilowered ; involucre cylindrical, the
bracts pink, oblong, in 4 or 5 closely overlapping rows; flowers pinkish or
reddish-purple. Achenes 5-angled. (Fig. 115.)

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

157

Common along fence-rows, borders of thickets, streams and
lakes, especially in low moist grounds. July-Oct. The tall stem,

whorled leaves and handsome heads
of flowers make it one of the most
conspicuous of our Composite?. Both
it and all the other bonesets may be
distinguished from the iron-weeds
by the pappus which is made up of
a single row of rough, hair-like
bristles, while in the iron-weeds the
pappus is double, the inner row be-
ing of bristles and the outer of short
scales. The purple boneset is not
an aggressive weed, being seldom
found in open pastures, and can be
easily killed out by frequent mow

Fig. 115. Single flower on left; head of flowers • -> ,, •

on right. (After Britton and Brown.) ing Or deep Cutting.

120.

PERFOLIATTM L. Common Thoroughwoi't. Boneset.

EUPATORIUM

(P. N. 3.)

Stem stout, hairy, branched above, 2-5 feet high ; leaves opposite,
united at base and surrounding the stem, horizontal or half erect, lance-
olate, long-pointed, finely toothed. Heads
crowded in a fiat-topped cluster, 10-16
flowered ; involucre bell-shaped, the bracts
lanceolate, pointed, in 2 or ."> overlapping
rows; flowers white, rarely bluish. (Fig.

no.)

Very common in low moist mead
ows. along ditches, borders of streams,
lakes, etc. July-Sept. A well known
weed, much used in the country as
a remedy for fever and ague, whence
the names "feverwort" and "ague-
weed" by which it is sometimes
known ; also for colds, dyspepsia aud
as a tonic. The leaves and flowering
tops are the parts used, and if gath-
ered for sale should be stripped from
the stalk when the latter is in flower i)UR-

and carefully dried. They bring from 2 to 8 cents per pound.
When their infusion is taken in large1 doses it acts as an emetic
and cathartic. When too abundant, the boneset can be killed out
by drainage, frequent mowing, or thorough cultivation.

Fig. 116.

a

a, mature head:

I, fruit with pap-
( After Watson. J

158

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

121. EUPATORIUM AGERATOIDES L. White Suake-root. White Sanicle.

(P. N. 3.)

Erect, glabrous or nearly so, much branched, 1-4 feet high ; leaves
thin, opposite, broadly ovate, slender-stalked, pointed, coarsely and sharply
toothed, 3-G inches long. Heads numerous in loose clusters, 10-30
flowered; involucre bell-shaped, the bracts equal, linear, pointed, in 1 or
2 rows ; flowers white.

Common in dense woods and thickets and along roadsides in
shaded places, usually in rich moist soil. July— Oct. Supposed by
many to be the cause of trembles in sheep, cattle and horses and of
milk sickness in humans. "While by most physicians and botanists
this poisonous character is denied, Mr. E. L. Moseley has, by
numerous experiments, recently proven* that it causes trembles
and death when fed to cats, rabbits and lambs. He states that
cattle and sheep will not touch the weed when other forage is
plentiful, but that when turned into a closely cropped pasture
or one covered with snow they eat it and are soon affected with
trembles. The milk from cows which have eaten it under such
conditions has been known to cause milk sickness and death. While
the weed is not aggressive it should be cleared out of woods used
for pasture. This can be done by drainage or by successive mow-
ings. The root is used in medicines and, when properly prepared,
brings 3 to 4 cents per pound.

122. LEPTILON CAKADENSE L. Horse-
weed. Butterweed. Mare's Tail.
(A. N. 1.)

Erect, bristly-hairy, usually much
branched, very leafy, 1-8 feet high;
lower and basal leaves spoon-shaped,
stalked, cut-lobed ; upper linear, entire.
Heads small, very numerous, in an
open panicle ; receptacle naked ; invol-
ucre bell-shaped, its bracts narrow in 2
or 3 overlapping rows; flowers dull
white; rays numerous but shorter than
the pappus and therefore inconspicuous.
Achene flattened; pappus a single row
of hair-like straw-colored bristles. (Fig.
117.)

Very common in fields, gardens
and open waste; places, especially in
damp sandy soil. June-Get. Occurs especially in old abandoned
or fallow fields and in stubble. The seeds are very numerous, the

Fig. 117. (After Watson.)

*0hio Naturalist, VI, 1906, 463-470; 477-483.

WEEDS OP THE THISTLE F \M1LY. 15;)

stern stout and the root small. In size it varies much according to
the richness of the soil. Widely distributed in Europe and South
America in exchange for some of the many weeds they have fur-
nished us. Remedies: pulling before the seeds ripen; mowing or
burning in early autumn.

The horse-weed is used in medicine as a remedy for dropsy,
diarrhea, etc. It is sometimes called ''blood stanch," being used
for stopping bleeding from wounds The fresh herb when distilled
yeilds a volatile oil known as oil of fleabane. When the plant is
freely handled this sometimes causes a skin eruption, somewhat
similar to that produced by poison ivy. The leaves and upper
branches when gathered and dried during the flowering season
bring from 6 to 8 cents per pound.

12:>. ANTENNARTA PLANTAGIXIFOLIA L. Phintain-leaf Everlasting. Mouse-
oar. Indian Tobacco. (P. N. 2.)

Low woolly herbs spreading by offshoots or runners and having the
male and female heads on separate plants; steins of fertile plants (V-1S
inches, of the sterile, 3-8 inches high ; basal leaves in rosettes, woolly,
broadly oval or spoon-shaped, 3-ribbed, dark green above, silvery white
below; stem leaves linear or oblong, sessile. Heads numerous in small
crowded clusters or short spikes ; receptacle naked, pitted ; involucre bell-
shaped, its whitish scales in several overlapping rows ; flowers all tubular,
cream-colored. Achenes cylindric, slightly flattened. Pappus a single row
of hair-like bristles, in the female flowers more copious and united at
base.

Common in dry clayey, hair-barren soil on the slopes of open
upland woods and old fields. April-June. Spreading both by
numerous seeds and runners, it forms broad patches, those of the
sterile and fertile plants often separate, crowding out or taking the
place of blue-grass and thus greatly lessening the pasture value of
the land. It is one of the earliest of the Composite to blossom,
often appearing the first of April. The flower stems are then very
low, but like those of the dandelion soon arise to a foot or more
in height. Remedies: increased fertilization and reseeding in pas-
tures; cultivation and rotation with clover in old fields.

124. GxAPriALii M oirrrsiFourM fj. Fragrant or Common Everlasting.

Sweet Balsam. (A. X. 3.)

Stem oroct, woolly, simple or branched, l-.'J feet high ; loaves alternate,
linear or lanceolate, tapering at base, sessile, pointed, dark green above,
densely white woolly beneath, l-.°> inches long. Heads numerous, in
panicled clusters of 2 -."> ; receptacle flat, naked; involucre cone-shaped, its
bracts dry, whitish, in several overlapping rows; flowers few. dull white.
Achenes glabrous, oblong-cylindrical ; pappus a single row of hair-lik-
lu-istlos. (Fig. US.)

.160

TITK IXDfANA WfcKT) ROOK.

Fig. 118. Pistillate flower on left; central
one on right. (After Bricton and Brown.)

Common in dry soil on the slopes of open woodland pastures
and old fields. July-Sept. A homely but very fragrant lierb oc-
cupying waste places yet not aggressive enough to do much harm.
Remedies : frequent mowing or pulling before the heads mature.

As one travels along the country roads or wanders through
the woodlands from mid-July to October he inhales many an odor

but none more pleasing than that which
comes from this Composite. There is
nothing like it in the rambler's cate-
gory of smells. Once known it is never
forgotten, and each season it is greeted
with ever growing delight. If there is
any other odor which it recalls it is that
of the earth, earthy on the first days
of the great awakening. Then the
moistened leaves and mold give up
from many a woodland surface the
quintessence of herbs and grass and
flowers long since dead and forgotten.
But the odor of the everlasting is that
of a living thing which one can gather and put into his pocket
where for months it will exhale its fragrance. Where the plant is
plentiful the odor penetrates the air for rods around and is often
borne to the traveler by whom it is welcomed though its source be
to him unknown. What combination of chemical atoms, what per-
fect union of C. and H. and 0. and other elements, must there be
for its production? What a hidden secret must this herb possess
that it is enabled to produce and exhale such a unique, pleasing
and life-inspiring fragrance !
125. BIDEXS COXNATA Muhl. Swamp Beggar-ticks. (A. N. 1.)

Steins erect, purple, glabrous, usually much branched, 1-5 feet high;
leaves thin, opposite, stalked, lanceolate or oblong, sharply and coarsely
toothed, pointed, 2-5 inches long, the lower often 3-lobed. Heads num-
erous, erect, stalked, about 1 inch broad ; involucre bell-shaped, its bracts
in 2 rows, the outer ones the larger; receptacle flat, chaffy; rays none or
1-5 and inconspicuous; disk-flowers orange. Acheues wedge-shaped, flat,
often keeled, edges bristly-hairy, top with 2-4 stiff downwardly barbed
pappus-awns. (Fig. 1, ?>.)

Very common in swamps, borders of marshes and low wet bot-
tom lands. July-Get. This is one of 8 or 10 species of trouble-
some weeds occurring in the State and known as bur-marigolds,
beggar-ticks, tick-seed sunflowers, pitch-forks, devil's bootjacks, etc.
Some of them have prominent yellow rays and will be treated on

WEEDS OF T1TE THISTLE FAMILY.

161

another page. All have the top of the achenes or seeds armed with

strongly barbed bristles or awns
by which they readily adhere to
clothing, wool or hair of animals
and thus are widely scattered.
The awns are usually 2 in num-
ber, whence the generic name Bi-
dens, meaning two-toothed. A
closely allied species is the com-
mon beggar-ticks (B. frondosa
L., Fig. 119), which is also very
common in moist soil in fence

j" ^§ "* Mj corners, gardens, corn fields find

T^V lr\ f Ml waste places. It has the leaves

3-5 divided, the outer bracts
larger and achenes wider with
more slender awns. The juices
sometimes cause an itching or
skin irritation when the plant is
Fig. 119. (After Vasey) handled. Both can be easily de-

stroyed by mowing before the seeds ripen, thorough cultivation or

improved drainage.

120. BIUENS BIPINNATA L. Spanish Needles. (A. N. 2.)

Stein erect, 4-sided, branched, 1-5 feet
high ; leaves stalked, 1-8 times divided into
oblong toothed or lobed segments. Heads
numerous, long-stalked ; involucre narrow,
its bracts linear, the inner ones the larger ;
flowers few, dull yellow ; rays none or 3-4,
short, yellow. Achenes linear, 4-sided, f
inch long, narrowed upward into a beak
which bears 8 or 4 short downwardly barbed
awns. (Fig. 120.)

Common in gardens, cultivated fields,
borders of thickets and waste places, es-
pecially in rich moist soil. July-Oct.
Remedies: pulling or mowing before

Fig. 120. Long inner fruit with barbed
the SeCCiS ripen; burning OVer StUDble awns; shorter and thicker outer fruit.

fields and waste places in autumn.

127. lid'HERA PAPPOSA \7ent. F(«ti(l Marigold. Yellow Dog-fennel. (A.

N. 2.)

Erect, glanduhir, strong-scented, very leafy, much branched, G-1S
inches high ; leaves opposite, sessile, divided into linear bristle-toothed or

[ill

162

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Fig 121. Short ray-flower on left;
disk-flower on right.

and Brown.)

(After Bntton

cut-lobed segments. Heads numerous, short-stalked on the ends of the
branches; involucre bell-shaped, its 8-30 oblong, purplish bracts in one
row; receptacle flat, chaffy; rays few, short, inconspicuous; disk-flowers

numerous, dull yellow. Achenes 4-angled,
wider above, hairy, crowned by a ring of short
hair-like brownish bristles. (Fig. 121.)

Common along roadsides, banks of
streams, railways and borders of fields,
especially in gravelly or clayey soils.
June— Oct. A migrant from the west
brought in by railways and seeds in hay.
Readily known by the large pellucid
glands of the leaves and bracts which ex-
hale a very disagreeable odor. In many
places it seems to have taken the place of
the common dog-fennel (An the mis col ul n
L.). The odor of the latter was bad
enough but that of the foetid marigold is infinitely more disgusting.
Remedies: mowing while in flower; cultivation, when practicable,
of the land infested.
328. TANACETUM VULGARE L. Tansy. (P. I. 3.)

Stems stout, unbranched, 1-3 feet high ; leaves twice divided into
linear or oblong, cut-toothed segments. Heads numerous, small, in dense
flat-topped terminal clusters; involucre saucer-shaped, its oblong bracts
in several overlapping rows ; receptacle flat, naked ; flowers yellow, all
tubular. Achenes angled and ribbed, with flat top and a crown or pappus
of 5 short scales. (Fig. 122.)

Frequent in dense clusters along fence-
rows, embankments, waysides, etc. July-
Sept, An ill-smelling herb, formerly much
cultivated in gardens but escaped and
spreading in many places. Remedies : suc-
cessive mowings or grubbing ; cultivation.

For sale the leaves and tops should be
collected when in flower, and carefully
dried. The infusion is bitter and acrid
and is used as a stimulant, tonic, vermifuge,
etc. "When taken in overdoses the oil of
tansy is poisonous. About 40,000 pounds
are imported annually, the price ranging « cat

from 3 tO 6 Cents per pound. In England Fig. 122. a, disk-flower; 6, ray-flower;

e, fruit. (After Watson )

it was formerly thought that tansy laid to

soak in buttermilk for nine days would "make the complexion very

fair."

WEEDS OP THE THISTLE FAMILY.

163

120. ARTEMISIA BIENNIS Willd. Wormwood. (A. or B. N. 2.)

Stem erect, very leafy, branched, 1-4 feet high ; leaves alternate, once

or twice divided into linear or oblong,
toothed lobes. Heads small, numerous,
sessile in dense axillary clusters or short
spikes; involucre cup-shaped, its bracts
green with dry margins ; receptacle flat,
naked ; flowers tubular, greenish. Achenes
small, slender; pappus none. (Fig. 123.)

Common along dry gravelly banks
of streams, roadsides and waste places
about cities and towns in southern In-
diana; less so northward. July-Sept.
It has a disagreeable, penetrating odor
and a bitter taste. With us it is the
most common of 6 or 7 species of so-
called wormwoods, all of which are
homely, weed-like plants. Remedies:
pulling or grubbing; mowing several
times before the heads mature.

Fig. 123. Head of flowers below; single flow-
ers above. (After Britton and Brown.)

ISO. ERECIITITES HIERACIFOLLA L. Fireweed. Pilewort. (A. N. 3.)

Stem erect, branching, grooved, succulent, 1-8 feet high; leaves thin,
alternate, lanceolate or narrowly ovate, cut-toothed, 2-8 inches long.
Heads rather large, in an open panicle at the ends of the branches; in-
volucre cylindric, swollen at base, its bracts linear in one row ; receptacle
concave, naked; flowers white, all tubular. Achene linear-oblong, grooved;
pappus a large tuft of smooth white hairs.

Frequent in rich moist soil along borders of woods and thickets.
Very common in newly cleared ground, especially where brush-piles
have been burned. July-Sept. In a deadening caused by fire this
weed is the first plant to spring up, often taking complete posses-
sion of the soil for a year or two, then giving way to more hardy
species. The foliage is often attacked by mildews and a small
Carabid beetle (Anisodactylus terminatus Say) is sometimes found
by scores feeding upon its ripening seeds. An ointment made from
the essential oil is said to be a most excellent remedy for piles. It
seldom occurs" in cultivated fields and being an annual is easily
controlled by mowing or pulling before the flowers appear.

131. AUCTIUM MINUS Schk. Common Burdock. (K I. 1.)

Stem erect, grooved, fleshy, much branched, 1-5 feet high ; leaves thin,
alternate, broadly ovate, pale and somewhat woolly beneath, the lower
often 15 inches long, their stalks hollow, grooved, margins wavy or
toothed. Heads numerous in dense clusters ; involucre f inch broad, sub-

164

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

globose, its bracts glabrous, very numerous and tapering to long stiff
points which become rigid and hooked at tip to form a bur, the inner
ones erect and shorter than the flowers ; receptacle flat, densely bristly ;
flowers purplish, all tubular. Achenes light brown, oblong, ribbed or
3-augled; pappus of short bristly scales. (Figs. 1, d ; 124.)

Very common about the sites of old houses, barnyards, fence
corners and waste places generally. July-Oct. A coarse, un-
sightly, ill-smelling social weed which
has followed man over much of the
continent, yet whose presence on any
farm betokens a negligent and slov-
enly owner. Tt produces the first year
of its growth only a rosette of largo
root leaves resembling those of the
common "pie-plant," from the midst
of which the flower-stalk of the next
season springs. When ripe the whole
flower head separates as a bur, which
is very annoying in the wool of sheep
and the manes of horses, and sticks
closer than a brother to the clothes of

Fig. 124. (After Clark.)

man. These burs are almost ideal for

seed distribution, the seed being widely scattered as the bur is
carried along. Remedies: deep cutting below the crown with hoe
or spud before flowering; burning the mature plants; repeated
mowing.

The seeds are very numerous, a large plant producing 400,000
or more, and when dried both they and the roots are used in blood
and skin diseases and the fresh leaves as poultices for swellings and
ulcers. The tap-root of burdock is large, fleshy, a foot or more long,
and is sold under the name of lappa, the price ranging from 3 to
8 cents per pound. Tt should be collected in the fall of the first
year, washed, split lengthwise and carefully dried. The seeds, if
gathered when ripe or nearly so, have a value of 5 to 10 cents a
pound.

1.32. CARDUUS LANCEOIATUS L. Common Thistle. Bull Thistle. (B. I. 1.)
Stem stout, branched, leafy to the heads, more or less woolly, 2-4
feet higu ; leaves dark green, lanceolate, pointed, deeply cut-lobed, the
lobes and teeth tipped with stout prickles, the base and margins, which
extend downward along the stem, bristly. Heads mostly solitary at the
ends of the branches, about 2 inches long and when fully open almost as
broad; bracts of the involucre in many overlapping rows, lanceolate,
pointed, tipped with slender erect prickles; flowers dark purple. Achenes

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

165

gray, ribbed, ^ iiicli long; pappus of several rows of slender hair-like
white bristles. (Fig. 125.)

Very common in pastures, along roadsides, fence-rows and in
old abandoned fields. June- Sept. One of the worst of pasture

weeds, its long basal root-leaves
of the first season spreading over
and smothering out the blue-
grass. The tap-root runs deep
and the plant can be easily killed
by cutting below its crown. This
should be done in the late au-
tumn or early spring with hoe or
spud; repeated mowing before
the seeds ripen is a less efficient
remedy.

Armed below with many a
stiff spine and prickly involucral
scale, the purple head of this
thistle is itself more soft and
yielding than velvet. To an eye
which appreciates solid beauty
the first thistle blossom of the
year, opening from the apex of
the central stalk, is one of the
most attractive of our wild-wood
flowers. Of what a number of cylindrical rays is it composed !
How compactly and prettily are they grouped! What a soft and
delicate expanse they unfold to view ! The purple head is erect—
a great eye, as it were, gazing up into the blue ethereal depths
above — purple looking into blue — and mayhap gathering from the
latter a deeper hue to add unto its loveliness.

This thistle is the national flower of Scotland, adopted, so the
story goes, because it frustrated the capture of that country by the
Danes a thousand years and more ago. While stealing upon a
Scotch town after night, one of the Danes stepped on a thistle and
cried out with pain. His cry awakened the Scots and saved their
town. Beneath the Scottish emblem which bears the thistle there
is often placed the motto: "No one injures me with impunity."

In England the thistle was also sacred to Thor the god of
thunder, and was supposed TO be colored by the lightning. To
dream of being, surrounded by it was considered a propitious sign,
foretelling that the person so dreaming would soon receive some
pleasing news

Fig. 125. a, piece of main stem with leaf; 6, flower
head; c, seed with pappus; d, seed with pappus de-
tached. (After Dewey.)

166 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

133. CARDUI-S ALTISSIMUS L. Tall Thistle. Roadside Thistle. (B. X. 2.)
Stem stout, branched, woolly, leafy to the heads, 3-10 feet high ;

leaves undivided, ovate-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, sessile, densely white
woolly beneath, the margins with bristle-pointed teeth or cut-lobes, the
lower 8-10 inches long, the upper narrower and smaller. Heads solitary
at the ends of the branches, 2 inches wide ; outer bracts of the involucre
ovate, tipped with short spines and with a more or less prominent
glandular spot along its middle, the inner bracts not spine-tipped; flowers
light purple or pinkish. Achenes as in the preceding.

Frequent along roadsides and borders of thickets, pastures, etc.,
in moist rich soil. July-Oct. Usually taller and less branched than
the common thistle. Associated with the tall thistle or growing in
similar places is the field thistle (C. discolor Muhl.) having the
leaves deeply divided into lanceolate or linear segments, the wool
en their under side much thicker and the glands of the involucral
scales larger. Both species are easily subdued by deep cutting or
repeated mowing.

The glands on the bracts of these thistles exude a sticky sub-
stance which is very attractive to insects and which often serves to
entrap and hold them until they perish. On different occasions
in September the writer has found many dead flies, ants, harvest-
men, small butterflies and small black snout beetles so held.* A
large Scarabid beetle (Euphoria scpulchralis Fab.) is also very
common at these glands. Though too big to be captured, it always
appears dazed as if intoxicated by the secretion. Here and there on
the stems numerous brown plant lice may often be seen, arranged in
rows, their beaks deeply inserted in the grooves, their heads always
towards the ground or base of the plant. The stem doubtless yields
a sweetish sap agreeable to these aphids. In late autumn these tall
thistles add a mite of color to many a woodland pasture, blooming
as they do long after the more common thistles have ripened their
achenes. One clump of these thistles was measured and found to
be over 10 feet high, o'er-topping all the iron-weeds and the tallest
of the actinomeris with which it grew.

134. CAROL rs ARVENSIS L. Canada Thistle. Creeping or Cursed Thistle.

(P. I. 1.)

Stems slender, grooved, 1-3 feet high, branched above ; leaves lance-
olate or oblong, green both sides or somewhat downy beneath, sessile,
deeply divided into very prickly lobed or toothed segments, the basal
leaves 5-8 inches long. Heads small, 1 inch or less broad, very numerous;
male and female heads on sep.irate plants, the former globose, the latter
smaller, oblong, bell-shaped with shorter corollas and more conspicuous
pappus ; outer bracts of involucre ovate, appressed. tipped with short,

*See "Cnicus discolor as an Insect Trap" in Can. Ent., 1892, 310.

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

167

prickly points, inner bracts longer, linear; flowers purple, pinkish or' white.
Achenos light brown, smooth, £ inch long, tipped by a copious white
pappus. (Fig. J-(5. )

Frequent in dense patches in northern Indiana in woodland and
other pastures, old fields and waste places, and along roadsides;

scarce or wanting in the southern coun-
ties. June-Get. This thistle has gained
the reputation of being one of the worst
of weed scourges which Europe has fur-
nished us. but in Indiana is less trouble-
some than the common thistle or fox-tail.
Many other weeds, especially the teasel,
tall thistle and bull nettle are mistaken
for it. Usually it is first introduced into
a new locality by the seeds, and then
spreads rapidly wherever it can find a
foothold. From other thistles it is best
known by its deep running perennial
rootstocks. more slender stems and
small compact heads. (See Fig. 13, 6.)
From the rootstocks, which lie usually
far below the ordinary depth of the fur-
rows, branches are being continually
sent to the surface, oftentimes through
3 feet and more of bard packed soil.
These branches produce basal leaves the first year and flowering
stems the second ; these stems, like those of other thistles, appearing
to die after their seeds ripen, but only dying down to the under-
ground stem. Wherever it occurs the numerous branches and root-
leaves soon cover the ground, smothering out the grass and pre-
venting stock from gracing near them on account of their many
prickles. Like other perennial herbs it can only be destroyed by
starving out or otherwise killing the underground stems. Rem-
edies : mowing or deep hoe-cutting three times each season, in June,
August and September, then salting or applying coal-oil or
sulphuric acid ; repeated salting and sheep grazing for 2 years.
In fields cut the thistles when in full bloom as close to the ground
as possible, then plow deeply and sow to millet or Hungarian grass,
seeding heavily and harrowing; in September cut the hay, plow
again and seed with rye; the next May plow under the rye and
plant to corn or some hoed crop. Short rotation and thorough
cultivation of almost any crop witli hoe will eventually eradicate
the thistle.

Fig. 126. Showing horizontal roots,
yo ing shoots and mature plant in flower.
(After Dewey.)

168

INDIANA WT^ED BOOK.

GROUP B,

Here belong those weeds among our Composite which have one
or more rows of conspicuous yellow rays around the margin of the
head of flowers. These ray-flowers are in most species pistillate
and fertile, that is, producing seeds, though in some they are neutral
and sterile. To the group belong our weeds known as golden-rods,
elecampane, cup-plant, ox-eyes, cone-flowers, sunflowers, aetino-
meris, bur-marigolds and snee/eweed.

135. SOLIDAGO CANADENSIS L. Canada Golden-rod. (P. N. 3.)

Stem stout, rough-hairy, 2-8 feet high ; leaves alternate, lanceolate,
rough above, 3-nerved, pointed, the lower ones sharply toothed and stalked,
3-6 inches long, the upper sessile, entire. Heads very numerous on one
side of the spreading recurved branches of a large terminal panicle; in-
volucre oblong, its linear appressed bracts in several overlapping rows;
flowers bright yellow, the rays short, 9^15 in a single row. Achenes cyl-
indrical, glabrous; pappus of numerous rough, hair-like bristles.

Abundant along fence-rows, roadsides and in old abandoned
fields, especially in dry upland soil. Aug.— Nov. This is probably
the most common and widely distributed of the 30 or more golden-
rods recorded from the State. All are among the most handsome
of our autumn wild flowers, being for the most part wand plants
with small densely clustered yellow heads. For the botanist they
form a difficult group, being separated mainly by the size of the
heads, their arrangement in flower clusters, and by the texture

and shape of the leaves. "Hardly
has the 'last rose of summer' departed
when the early golden-rod appears
and its later sisters brighten even the
November landscape. Simple, hardy,
every-day flowers, they are full of
sunshine and good cheer, adding
brightness to the dusty wayside and
joy to the common paths of life."

Associated with the Canada
golden-rod and more often found on
old half sterile slopes is the field
golden-rod (8. nemoralis Ait., Fig.
127.) 1-2 feet high, the stem and
leaves thickly clothed with short ash-
gray hairs, the lower leaves spoon -
Watson-} shaped and toothed, the upper oblong
and entire; heads in a dense one-sided cluster, the flowers very

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

169

bright yellow with 5-9 rays. (Fig. 10. r/.) Both species are too
handsome to be called weeds, but if their room is needed they can
be easily killed out by repeated mowing or by fertilization and
cultivation of the soil.

130. EUTHAMJA GRAM i NT FOLIA L. Swamp Golden-rod. Bushy or Fra-
grant Golden-rod. (P. N. 3.)

Stein erect, glabrous, much branched, 2-4 feet high; leaves numerous,
linear-lanceolate, 3-5 nerved, pointed, the margins and nerves minutely
rough-hairy. Heads small, numerous, sessile in a Hat-topped terminal
cyme or cluster ; involucre club-shaped, its bracts oblong, appressed, over-
lapping, slightly viscid; flowers golden-yellow, the rays 12-20, disk-flowers
S-12. Acliene top-shaped, velvety-hairy.

Very common in low moist grounds along borders of marshes
and streams. July-Get. From the golden-rods belonging to the
genus Solidago this one is now separated by the rays being more
numerous than the disk-flowers and by the receptacle being min-
utely fringed, not closely pitted as there. The flat-topped flower
cluster and narrow leaves also distinguish it from most of the
others. It spreads both by long running rootstocks and seeds and,
if left undisturbed, soon forms large patches and becomes trouble-
some as a weed in damp hay meadows, being the most common of
all golden-rods in low grounds. Since the roots are near the surface
it can be easily destroyed by cultivation or shallow plowing and
also by repeated mowings.

137. INULA HELENIUM L. Elecampane. Horseheal. (P. I. 3.)

Stems stout, tufted from large thick roots, simple or few branched,

densely hairy above, 2-6 feet high ; basal leaves broadly oblong, 10-20
inches long, 4-8 inches wide, long-stalked, rough
above, woolly beneath ; stem leaves smaller,
ovate, alternate, sessile or clasping, pointed.
Heads few or solitary, terminal, 2-4 inches
broad; involucre saucer-shaped the bracts over-
lapping in several rows, the outer ones ovate,
leaf-like; flowers yellow; rays numerous, linear,
3-toothed. Achenes 4-sided, & inch long, glab-
rous; pappus of rough, hair-like bristles. (Fig.
128.)

Frequent in old fields, rich open wood
lands, along roadsides and about old dwell-
ings. June-Sept. Elecampane is a large, un-
gainly rough looking weed which was for-
merly grown for ornament or for medicine

Fig. 128. (After Millspaugh.)

and has escaped in many places. It has been in use as a medicine

170

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

since the time of Hippocrates, the root being slightly aromatic,
tonic and expectorant and at one time much used in dyspepsia and
chronic coughs. When properly dried it brings 4 to 5 cents a
pound. Remedies : deep and repeated cutting with hoe or spud.

138. SILPHIUM PERFOLIATUM L. Cup-plant. Indian-cup. (P. X. 3.)

Stem stout. 4-sided, branched above, 4-8 feet high ; leaves opposite,

thin, the upper entire, broadly united at base to form a cup-shaped cavity

about the stem ; lower long-stalked,
cut-toothed, G-15 inches long, 4-8
inches wide. Heads rather few, 2-3
inches wide, in a flat-topped open clus-
ter; receptacle fiat, chaffy; involucre
saucer-shaped, the bracts broad, ovate ;
flowers yellow, the 20-30 rays linear,
fertile, toothed ; the disk-flowers instil-
late but sterile. 5-toothed. Achenes
broad, flattened, 2-winged, notched at
top; pappus none. (Fig. 129.)

Common in low moist grounds
along roadways, ditches, marshes,
and especially banks of streams.
July-Sept. A large coarse weed,
the cups at base of leaves being a
striking character. These are often
filled with water in which many insects are drowned. Whether
the weed is, like the pitcher plant, partly carnivorous, is as yet un-
known. Remedies : deep cutting with hoe or spud.

130. IlKLIOPSIS SCAI5RA DlllUll. liOUgll

Ox-eye. False Sunflower. (P.

X. 3.)

Stem rough, simple or branched
above, 2-5 feet high ; leaves opposite,
ovate, pointed, sharply toothed, firm,
rough on both sides, 2-5 inches long, 2
inches wide, short-stalked. Heads term-
inal, few or solitary, long-stalked, 2
inches broad ; receptacle convex, chaffy ;
involucre cup-shaped, its bracts oblong,
in 2 or 3 rows; flowers yellow, the rays
10 or more, fertile, 1 inch long. Achene
thick. 4-angled ; pappus crown-like of
1-3 sharp teeth. (Fig. 130.)

Common in dry soil along fence-
rows, borders of thickets, roadsides,

Fig. 130. Ray-flower, natural size; disk-flower
etc. July-Sept. The name He hop- and chaff. (After Britten and Brown.)

Fig. 129. Ray-flower and chaffy bract above.
( After Britton and Brown.)

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

171

sis means "like the sun" and was given on account of the close re-
semblance to the sunflower from which the ox-eyes differ by having
a more conical receptacle and by the withered ray-flowers being
persistent upon the thicker, less flattened aehenes, instead of
falling off as in the sunflowers. The smooth ox-eye (H. Jielian-
Hioides L.) is almost as common as the rough one and is found in
similar places. Tt has the leaves smooth and the teeth of pappus
dull or wanting. Remedies: repeated mowing or deep cutting;
abandoning fence rows and cultivating the ground.

140. RUDKF;CKIA IIIRTA L. mack-eyed Susan. Darkey-head. Yellow
Daisy. (B. X. 2.)

Stem simple or sparingly branched, rough-hairy, often in tufts, 1-4
feet high; leaves thick, alternate, lanceolate or oblong, tapering, entire or
few-toothed. Heads numerous, terminal, 1'— 1 inches broad, long-stalked;

receptacle conic with linear chaffy scales;
involucre cup-shaped, its bracts rough-hairy,
spreading, much shorter than the rays; disk
globose, its flowers brownish-purple ; rays
10-20, orange. Aehenes brown, 4-angled,
3/10 inch long; pappus none. (Fig. 131.)

Common along streams, roadsides,
fence-rows, borders of thickets, etc.
June-Oct. Appears to be both an an-
nual and a biennial ; in the former case
lower, more simple stemmed and bloom-
ing in late autumn ; as a biennial, stouter,
more branched and blossoming early. It
is sometimes troublesome in hay fields,
Fig. i3i. (After ciark.) from ^^{^ ft may ])e removed by pull-

ing, repeated mowing or thorough cultivation. In everybody's
garden, along the gravelly banks of roadsides and streams, it is,
however, most prevalent. There in July and August it is one of
the most showy of our Composites and is a favorite with every one;
for then the banks

"Are gay with golden-rod.

There blooming grasses nod,
And sunflowers small and yellow turn ever to the sun ;

Quaint, darkey-heads are there,

And daisies wild and fair.
In everybody's garden each flower's the loveliest one.''

Two other "cone-flowers" belonging to the genus RudbccJci.fi
are common enough to be called weeds, though they occupy for the
most part waste land. They are the thin-leaved cone-flower (R.

172 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

iriloba L.) having the stem branched, 2-5 feet high, the lower leaves
deeply 3-lobed or 3-divided, the disk egg-shaped, dark purple, the
rays 8-12, deep yellow or orange, and the tall or green-headed cone-
flower (R. lacimata L.) with the stem 3-12 feet high, the leaves
divided into 3-7 toothed or lobed segments, the disk oblong-
eylindric, greenish -yellow, and the rays, 6-10, bright yellow. The
former grows in low moist meadows and the latter mostly in al-
iuvial soil along the dense shaded banks of streams. Both are easily
killed by repeated mowing or deep cutting.

1-41. HELIANTHUS DECAPETALus L. Wild Sunflower. Thin-leaved Sun-
dower. (P. N. 3.)

Stein slender, glabrous, branched above, 2-5 feet high ; leaves thin,
ovate, pointed, sharply toothed, roughish above, the lower all opposite,
slender-stalked, the upper alternate. Heads numerous, 2-H inches broad;
involucre cup-shaped, its bracts linear-lanceolate, pointed, spreading, often
longer than the yellow disk; rays 8-15, light yellow. Achenes thick,
somewhat flattened, glabrous; pappus of 2 awl-shaped awns.

Frequent along streams, borders of thickets, etc., in moist rich
soil. July-Sept, This is probably the most common and widely
distributed of the 16 species of wild sunflowers recorded from the
State. All are weeds in that they grow uncultivated in waste
places, yet no one of them is a weed of the flrst or even the second
class. All agree in having conspicuous yellow rays which are
neutral, that is, without pistils or stamens, in having the receptacle
chaffy, the chaff arising from beneath the tubular disk-flowers, and
.in the pappus being represented by only 2 or 4 short scales or awns.
The ray-flowers exist only for the purpose of attracting insects to
the less showy fertile flowers of the disk, thus indicating a high
type of division of labor in plant life. The leaves vary much in
size, shape, position on the stem, smoothness, length of stalk, etc.,
and by these differences the species are mainly separated. In a
few the disk-flowers are brown or purple and the receptacle flat,
but in most kinds the disk is yellow and the receptacle convex.
The generic name, Helianthus, means sunflower and probably refers
to the popular belief that these flowers turn or change position on
the stalk so as to face the sun most of the time. This belief is set
forth by Thompson in the lines :

"The lofty follower of the sun,
Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves.
Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,
Points her enamoured bosom to his ray."

And Moore, describing its faithful constancy, says:

WEEDS OF THE tlll^TLE FAMILY.

"The sunflower turns on her god when he sets
The same look which she did when he rose."

Another reason for the name is that the flowers of the larger species
have a fancied resemblance to the orb of day.

The two best known species of sunflower, both of which grow
wild in Indiana, are the common sunflower (//. annuus L.) and the
Jerusalem artichoke (1L tuberosus L.). The former is often culti-
vated in gardens where it sometimes reaches a height of 15 feet and
a head diameter of a foot or more. "Its flowers yield honey and
a yellow dye; its leaves fodder; its seeds an oil and food, and its
stalks a textile fabric. ": In some parts of the west and south it is
a troublesome weed, but in Indiana the wild plants are escapes from
cultivation. In the southeastern part of the State sunflowers are
raised extensively for the seed, the average yield of the crop being
800 to 1,000 pounds per acre. Sulzer Bros, of Madison purchased
in 1911, 100,000 pounds of the seed at 2 cents a pound. The seeds
there grown are used mostly to feed cage birds, chickens, horses
and other stock. In Russia and other European countries the seeds
are grown on a much more extensive scale for their oil, which is
expressed and used on the table like olive oil and also for lighting
and soap making. The residual oil cakes have a high nutritive
value and are used for feeding stock.

The Jerusalem artichoke or
"earth apple," (Fig. 132), with
its large rough lower opposite
or upper alternate leaves, was
extensively cultivated by the In-
dians for its oblong edible tubers
which are offshoots from the
fleshy thickened rootstocks. The
plant is at present often grown
for these tubers which are fed
to stock or are pickled and used
as a condiment. In many pla,ces
in the State it grows rankly as
a weed in alluvial or moist rich
soil, reaching a height of 6-12
feet, and blooming 10 days or a
fortnight later than its allies.

Fig. 132. Flowering branch, root and tubers; o, ray-
flower; b, disk-flower; c, fruit. (After Watson.) Both it and Other Sunflowers,

where too abundant, can be destroyed by cultivation, repeated
mowing, or by deep cutting and free use of salt.

*Britton and Brown, III, 422.

174

THE IKDTAXA WEED BOOK.

142. VERBESINA ALTERNII-OLIA L. Winged Iron-weed. Yellow Iron-weed.

Actinomeris. (P. N. 2.)

Stem slender, simple or branched near the top, winged by the down-
ward extensions of the leaf margins. 4-t) feet high ; leaves alternate or
the lower opposite, oblong or lanceolate, pointed, toothed or entire, rough-
ish both sides, sessile or short-stalked. Heads numerous in an open
terminal cluster, 1-2 inches broad; receptacle convex, chaffy; involucre
of a few lanceolate, deflexed bracts ; disk globose, yellow ; rays 2-10,
yellow, drooping, 1 inch long. Achenes wedge-shaped, flattened, broadly
winged; pappus of 2 diverging awns. (Fig. 133.)

Common in the rich moist soil of lowland pastures and along

the borders of streams. Aug.-Sept.
Easily known by its winged stem, pale
yellow rays, and loose arrangement oi'
the achenes in the ripening heads.
Spreading both by seeds and perennial
roots, it often forms dense patches.
The 30 or more loosely bunched disk-
flowers are larger than those of most
Compositor and have an odor neither
very strong nor pleasing, resembling
somewhat that of the sunflower. It
furnishes the yellow, the iron-weed the
purple, and the everlasting the creamy

white of a trinity of color which en-
Fig. 133. Winged fruit with awns; disk

and ray-flowers on right. (Affer Britton livens in AllgUSt the lowlands Ot mam
and Brown.)

a woooland pasture. Kemedies: same
as for iron-weed.

143. BIDENS L^VIS L. Larger Bur-marigold. Brook Sunflower. (A.

X. 2.)

Stem erect or ascending, glabrous, branched, 1-2 feet high ; leaves
opposite, sessile, lanceolate, toothed, pointed, sometimes united at base
about the stem. Heads numerous, short-stalked, erect. 1-2 inches broad;
involucre cup-shaped, its outer bracts linear or oblong, longer than the
ovate inner ones; rays 8-10. showy, golden yellow, 1 inch long. Achenes
wedge-shaped, both their margins and the 2-4 slender, stiff awns of pap-
pus downwardly barbed.

Very common in low grounds about swamps, marshes, borders
of brooks and ditches. July-Get. Associated with it, almost as
common and probably only a variety, is the smaller or nodding
bur-marigold (B. cermia L.) haM'ng the heads nodding after flower-
ing and the rays shorter, sometimes wanting. Both belong to the
group having the achenes called "beggar-ticks" or ^pitch-forks"

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

175

mentioned on a preceding page. These two species are notable for
their yellow ray-flowers which in August often cover acres of low-
lands with a flood of golden glory, but are succeeded in November
by myriads of the 2-pronged seeds which clutch the clothing ot
the hunter for a free ride to pastures new. Remedies : mowing be-
fore the flowers open; drainage and thorough cultivation.

144. IlKLKNii'M AUTI-MNAI.K L. Sneezeweed. Swamp Sunflower. (P.

N. 2.)

Stem rather stout, nearly smooth, narrowly winged, mneh branched
above, .1-4 feet high ; leaves alternate, oblong or lanceolate, pointed, nar-
rowed to the sessile base, few-toothed, 2-5 inches long. Heads numerous,

about 1 inch broad, long-stalked; recep-
tacle convex, nuked ; involucre saucer-
shaped, its bracts linear, rellexed, densely
woolly ; disk many-flowered, yellow, glo-
bose; rays 10-1S. drooping, bright yellow,
pistillate and fertile, 3-5 toothed or cleft.
Achenes top-shaped, ribbed ; pappus of
r>-X ovate pointed scales. (Fig. Io4.)

Common in low moist grass-lands,
borders of fields, swamps, roadsides,
etc. Aug.-Oct. One of the most
handsome of our yellow-flowered
Composite and, with the bur-
marigolds and smartweed, competing
for possession of many a swamp area.
Remedies: drainage and cultivation;
repeated mowings.

Sneezeweed, when dried and pow-
dered, causes violent sneezing when
inhaled and is sometimes used in
medicine to produce that effect. The heads are often sprinkled
with bitter aromatic globules and the whole plant is more or less
acrid and poisonous, especially to cattle, sheep and horses, which
often die after eating it in quantity. Its symptoms are said to be
an accelerated pulse, difficult breathing, staggering, extreme sensi-
tiveness to touch and, if fatal, spasms and convulsions.

GROUP 0.

In this group of Composite? weeds the one to several rows of
rays around the margin of the head are usually white, though some-
times pinkish or bluish. Here belong the weeds known as asters,
fleabanes or white-tops, yarrow, dog-fennel and ox-eye daisy.

Fig. 134. (After Chesnut.)

176 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

145. ASTER SALLCIFOLIUS Lam. Willow Aster. (P. N. 2.)

Stem erect, rather slender, very leafy, much branched, glabrous or
hairy above, 2-5 feet high ; leaves firm, alternate, lanceolate or willow-
shaped, pointed, rough-margined, entire or few-toothed, sessile or slightly
clasping. Heads numerous, f inch broad, in loose terminal clusters ; re-
ceptacle flat, pitted ; involucre top-shaped, its bracts linear, green-tipped,
appressed in 4 or 5 overlapping rows: disk-flowers many, yellow; rays
numerous, bluish or violet, sometimes white, ^ inch long. Achenes flat-
tened, minutely hairy ; pappus of slender white bristles.

Very common in low annually overflowed bottom lands of the
larger streams of the State, especially those which lie fallow for a
season or two. Aug.-Oct. Associated with it in the lowlands, the
two often forming a dense growth to the preclusion of other weeds,
is a closely allied form, the tall white or panicled aster (A. panicn-
'l at its Lam.) with thinner smoother leaves and chiefly white rays.
They are but two of the 30 species of asters recorded from the
State, all of them being distinctively flowers of autumn. They begin
blooming the last of August and as late as December 1st can often
be found in some protected nook, the last wild flowers of the dying-
year. The ray -flowers of these wild asters are in a single row and
fertile. In color they vary from a pure white to a deep blue ; a few
are of a pinkish hue, but none are red or yellow. The disk-flowers,
however, are yellow, but turn purplish-brown or red with age, Avhile
the pappus is usually a single row of hair-like bristles. Those which
live in woods and shaded places have broad and heart-shaped leaves
while those of the fields and open places produce leaves that are
slender or even awl-shaped. The name Aslcr, given them by Lin-
naeus in 1753, means a star, the numerous rays giving them a star-
like appearance. Longfellow refers to their naming in the following
lines :

"Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,

One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers, so blue and golden,

Stars, that in earth's firmament do shine."

He probably had in mind the New England aster (A. novce-anglice
L.), one of our largest and most handsome species, which is also
very common in moist open grounds. It grows 2-8 feet high, is
rough-hairy and has very numerous lanceolate clasping leaves and
heads 1-2 inches wide, each with 40 or more long violet purple
rays. It occurs usually in large clumps, often along roadsides,
and is a striking member of our autumn flora. All these lowland
asters can be destroyed by repeated mowings or thorough culti-
vation.

WEEDS OP THE THISTLE FAMILY.

177

14(5. ASTER EBICOIDES L. White Heath Aster. Frost-weed Aster. Steel-
weed. (P. N. 1.)

Stem glabrous, or (in the variety pilosus) rough-hairy, bushy or much
branched, 1-3 feet high ; leaves firm or rigid, the basal ones spoon-shaped,
toothed, narrowed into margined stalks ; upper ones linear-lanceolate, en-
tire, gradually becoming short awl-shaped. Heads very numerous, \ inch
broad ; involucre bell-shaped, its bracts linear, leathery, abruptly pointed,
overlapping in about & rows; rays 15-25, white or pink tinged; disk often
reddish-purple. (Fig. 135.)

Abundant in southern Indiana in dry soil, especially on the
slopes of partly sterile or abandoned fields and pastures; less fre-
quent northward. Sept.-Nov. Our
most common upland aster, often
taking complete possession of fallow
fields, commons and old pastures and
blooming1 until December 1st or
later. The old stems are somewhat
woody and the smaller branches and
flowers are borne along one side of
the larger ones. The hairy variety
is more common than the type.
Remedies : increased fertilization
and thorough cultivation ; crowding
out with clover; sheep-grazing in
pastures.

The heart-leaved or blue wood
aster (A. cordifolius L.) is our next most common upland form,
occurring in dry coarse soils along roadsides, fence rows and open
woods. It has broad, rough, thin, heart-shaped, pointed, sharply
toothed leaves and numerous small heads with 10-20 violet or blue
rays. Remedies the same.

117. ERIGERON ANNUUS L. White-top. Daisy Fleabane. Sweet Scabious.

(A. N. 1.)

Stem erect, branched above, clothed with spreading hairs, 2-5 feet
high; leaves thin, lower and basal ones ovate or lanceolate, stalked,
coarsely toothed, 2-0 inches long; upper ones oblong, lanceolate or linear,
pointed, sharply toothed at middle or entire. Heads numerous, 4 inch
broad, short-stalked; receptacle flat, hairy; involucre cup-s>haped, its
bracts narrow, in but one or two rows, nearly equal, rough-hairy; disk-
flowers many, yellow; rays 40-70, in 2 or more rows, linear, white or
purplish, pistillate. Achenes flattened; pappus double, the inner a row
of slender fragile, tawny bristles which fall away, the outer of partly
united slender scales. (Fig. 130.)

Very common in clover and timothy fields, along fence-rows and
roadsides. May-Nov. Associated with it is the slender daisy flea-

[12]

Fig. 135. Disk-flower and leaf,
and Brown.)

(After Britton

178

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Fig. 136. (After Clark.)

bane (E. ramosus Walt.), distinguished by its smaller size, rougher
or more hairy stem, narrower nearly entire leaves and smaller,

longer rayed heads of flowers. Both are
commonly known as "white-top" and are
not separated by the average farmer.
They are the most pernicious weeds with
which the Indiana growers of timothy or
clover have to contend ; often occurring
as winter annuals, producing a spreading
tuft of coarsely toothed leaves from buried
seeds in autumn, and blossoming the next
May or early June. In clover fields these
winter annuals are especially troublesome
to the first crop, after the field has been
in corn and grain for a year or two, bein^
somewhat clicked out by the heavier
growth of succeeding years. In permanent
timothy meadows many of the seeds ripen
before the timothy is cut so that they are
there a continuous nuisance. Remedies: cutting hay early before
the white-top gets in full bloom; in timothy turning in a flock of
sheep for a few days before mowing, as they eat the weed and leave
the hay; if not too abundant, pulling from meadows while in bios
som ; examining the young clover fields in autumn, and if badly
infested plowing up for wheat or for spring cultivation.

The Philadelphia fleabane (E. pliUadelphic.us L.) is quite com-
mon in low damp grass-lands in southern Indiana. It is a perennial,
1—3 feet high, its numerous heads with 100-150 long light rose-
purple rays. Remedies: drainage and cultivation or repeated mow-
ings. From the asters the fleabanes may be easily told by having
the bracts in only 1 or 2 rows while the more slender ray-flowers
are usually in 2 or more rows.

148. ACIIILLEA MILLEFOLIU3kf Iv. YaiTOW. Milfoil. (P. I. 2.)

Stem erect, simple or branched above, glabrous or somewhat hairy.
!-«-} feet high ; leaves alternate, all finely divided or dissected into narrow
segments, those of the stem sessile. Heads small, nnmerons in a large
compound flat-topped cluster; involucre egg-shaped, its bracts oblong,
hairy, in a few overlapping rows; disk-flowers whitish, fertile; rays 4-6,
white or pinkish. Achenes gray, wedge-shaped, about 1/12 inch long;
pappus none. (Fig. 137.)

Common in old fields, meadows, pastures and along roadsides.
June— Oct. An ill-smelling homely weed which thrives as well by
the side of the road in a hard drv soil and dust-laden air as in

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

179

moist spots at the edges of ponds or lakes. The odor is strong and
the taste sharp and bitter. When eaten by cows it imparts its taste

and odor to milk and butter. Often
troublesome in meadows but readily
destroyed by pulling, repeated
mowing while in blossom or thor-
ough cultivation,

In medicine it is used as a stim-
ulant and tonic, especially for blad-
der troubles. The name Ackillca is
said to have been given the genus
because Achilles used it in the Tro-
jan war to heal the wounds of his
soldiers. If gathered for sale the
entire plant should be collected when
in. flower and carefully dried, the
coarser stems being rejected. The
price ranges from 2 to 5 cents a

Fig. 137. Flowering branch with heads; a, head; pOUnd.

The common name milfoil refers

to its finely cut leaves. As some clovers with three leaflets are tre-
foils and the five finger, cinquefoil, so the yarrow is milfoil or plant
of a myriad leaflets. In England it is said to be used as a love
charm by maidens who pluck the plant from the grave of a young
man. meanwhile repeating the stanza :

"Yarrow, sweet yarrow, the first that I have found.
In the name of my beloved I pluck thee from the ground ;
As Jesus loved sweet Mary and took her for His dear.
So in a dream this night I hope my true love will appear."

When carried about the person it wras thought to drive away fear
and was therefore worn in time of danger.

149. ANTHEMIS COTULA L. Dog-fennel. Mayweed. (A. I. 1.)

Stem much branched, glabrous, glandular, ill-smelling, (5-20 inches
high ; leaves two or three times divided into narrow, almost thread-like,
pointed segments. Heads numerous, on long leafless stems at the ends of
the branches; involucre cup-shaped, its bracts oblong, appressed, over-
lapping in several rows, their margins whitish; receptacle oblong, conical,
chaffy at top, the chaff bristly; disk-flowers numerous, fertile, yellow;
rays 10-18, white, neutral, 3-toothed, reflexed when old. Achenes top-
shaped, dirty yellow, 1/12 inch long, usually with S-10 lengthwise rows
of wart-like tubercles; pappus none. (Fig. 13S.)

Abundant in barnyards, lanes, commons of towns and along
paths and roadsides. June-Nov. It is a vile, stinking, yet, with its

180

THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

daisy-like heads, a handsome weed, flourishing for the most part
in dry, much compacted soils along pasture pathways and in
country barnyards where men and hogs and cattle are wont to
travel or congregate. Cow-weed would bo
a more appropriate name than dog-weed or
dog-fennel, for it grows best about those
spots where kine gather and ruminate. The
juice is acrid and often poisons the skin
when the plant is freely handled. Each
year it springs up and holds its own, star-
ring the margins of the pathways with the
yellow crowns arid white rays. Scraping
the mud from the swine which hurry past,
trampled many times by slow-moving cows,
though mud-bedaubed or broken in stem
it succeeds in ripening its seeds and
perpetuating its kind upon the face of
earth. An alien from the byways of
Europe, it triumphs where many of our
native weeds would fail, mainly by its
properties of perseverance and stubborn-
Fig. 138. (After Vasey.) ness Of spirit. Its seeds are often found
mixed with those of clover or grass. Remedies : mowing roadsides
and barnyards twice each year before the flowers appear ; in fields,
mowing or burning the mature plants; clean seeding and thorough
cultivation.

150. CHRYSANTHEMUM LEUCANTHEMUM L. Ox-eye Daisy. White Daisy.

White-weed. (P. I. 1.)

Stems erect or ascending, simple or few branched, often several from
a single root, 1-2 feet high ; basal leaves oblong or spoon-shaped, coarsely
toothed or cut-lobed, narrowed into slender stalks ; stem leaves alternate,
sessile or partly clasping, linear or oblong, deeply cut-toothed or entire.
Heads few or solitary at the ends of the stem or branches, 1-2 inches
broad, on long leafless stalks; receptacle flat, naked; involucre saucer-
shaped, its bracts oblong, appressed. in several overlapping rows, their
edges brownish ; disk-flowers numerous, yellow, fertile ; rays 20-30, white,
spreading. Achenes gray or black, club-shaped, 1/12 inch long, angled
or ribbed; pappus none. (Fig. 139.)

Common in southern Indiana in old meadows, fields and along
roadsides, usually in poor dry upland soil; less frequent north-
ward. May-Get. Gne of the most handsome and popular of our
Composite yet, where it gets a good start, one of the worst of weeds.
In many of the eastern States it takes almost complete possession

WEEDS OF THE THISTLE FAMILY.

181

Fig. 139. (After Shaw.)

of the pastures, rendering them quite white when the plant is in
blossom. It spreads by the seeds, which are distributed in hay,
manure, and various farm seeds, and also, when
started in any spot, by short offshoots from the
perennial rootstocks, which must be killed be-
fore the plant can be wholly eradicated. In
meadows it is a rank and aggressive weed soon
choking out the grasses, yet experiments have
proven that as far as the chemical composition is
concerned, the ox-eye daisy is fully the equal of
timothy hay in food constituents. However,
digestibility and the liking of live stock for it
were not taken into account. Cutting the hay
early and thus preventing the maturity of the
daisy seeds is one of the best methods of clear-
ing it out of meadows. At least 10 days are
necessary after the blossoms open for the seeds
to mature so that they will germinate. If tho
hay be cut during this period reseeding is pre-
vented and many of the rootstocks die. As the
plant is shallow-rooted, fields and meadows can
be readily cleaned of it by plowing, thorough cultivation and short
rotation of crops. In permanent pastures its eradication is a much
more serious problem, about the only remedies being repeated mow-
ings, or grazing closely with sheep. Farmers not now troubled with
the weed should be on the especial look-out for it, and isolated
plants which appear in a new place should be quickly dug or
pulled.

On account of its beauty the ox-eye daisy is often cultivated by
florists and is much used in boquets and for decorations. Instances
are on record where its spread has been traced to the throwing
away of wilted flowers in which the seeds were almost ripe. With
its conspicuous white rays to attract from far and wide bees and
other insects to aid in the fertilization of its numerous and closely
packed disk-flowers it is one of the highest of plants. The asters,
the fleabanes, the dog-fennel and the ox-eye daisy, all have the ray-
flowers thus differing in hue from the central florets and, as Grant
Allen has well said, form a group "of the commonest, most
numerous and most successful of plants. They really stand to all
other plants in the same relation as man stands toward other ani
mals. " It is well fitting, therefore, that this weed book should end
with these, the highest and most successful of weeds among the
great kingdom of plants.

A List of the More Important Books and Papers Used
in the Preparation of This Weed Book.

ATKINSON, GEO. F.— "A College Text Book of Botany."— 1005.

BLATCHLEY, W. S.— "A Catalogue of the Uncultivated Ferns and Flow-
ering Plants of Vigo Co., Ind."— From the 21st Ann. Rep. I ml.
Dept. Geol. and Nat. Resources, 1SJX;.

BRITTON, N. L. & BROWN, ADDISON.— "An Illustrated Flora of the
Northern United States and Canada."— 1896-1898.

CHESNUT, V. K.— "Thirty Poisonous Plants of the United States."—
Farm. Bull. No. 86, U. S. Dept. Agr., 1898.

CLARK, GEO. H. and FLETCHER, JAS— "Farm Weeds of Canada."—
1906.

CLARK, GEO. H. — "Report of the Seed Commissioner of the Dominion
of Canada."— 1911.

COULTER, JOHN M.— "Plant Structures."— 1900.

COULTER, STANLEY.— "A Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and of
the Ferns and their Allies Indigenous to Indiana." — From the 24th
Ann. Rep. Ind. Dept. Geol. and Nat. Resources, 1899.

DARLINGTON. WM.— "Agricultural Botany."— 1847.

DEW^EY, L. II. — "Weeds and How to Kill Them."— Farm. Bull. No. 28,
U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905.

GRAY, ASA.— "Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States."—
Sixth Edition, 1889.

HALSTP:D, BYRON D.— "Preliminary List of the Weeds of Iowa."—
Bull. Bot. Dept. State Agr. Coll., Ames, la., 1888.

IIENKEL. ALICE.— "Weeds Used in Medicine."— Farm. Bull. No. 188,
U. S. Dept. Agr., 1904.

MACMILLAN, CON WAY. —"Minnesota Plant Life."— 1899.

SELBY, A. D. — "A Second Ohio Weed Manual."— Bull. 175, Ohio Agr.
Exp. Sta., 1906.

SHAW, THOS.— "Weeds and How to Eradicate Them."— 1911.

VASEY, GEO. — "Weeds of Agriculture." — Reps, of Botanist in Reps. U.
S. Coinm. of Agr., 1886, '87, '88.

(182;

Glossary of Terms Used in Text.

AcJienc. — A one-seeded fruit having the wall of the seed-vessel tightly

fitting around the seed.
Acute. — Sharp pointed.

Acuminate. — Gradually tapering to a point.
Alternate. — See p. 34.

Anther. — The pollen-bearing part of the stamen.
Apctalovs. — Without petals.

Apprcsscd. — Lying closely against the stem or other organ.
Ascending. — See. p. 33.
A wn. — A slender bristle-like organ.
A.ril. — The angle where the leaf meets the stem.
Axillary. — Borne in an axil.

Biennial. — See p. IS.

Itcrrjj. — See p. 41.

Jiraet. — A small leaf which surrounds or protects a flower.

Hull). — An underground bud with fleshy scales.

Bulbous. — Bearing bulbs; springing from a bulb.

(.'(tlj/.r. — See p. 35.

Capsule. — See p. 42.

Cartel. — A modified leaf which forms part or all of an ovary.

Cari/opsi*. — See p. 42.

Chaff.— Thin dry scales.

Chlorophyll. — The green coloring matter of plants.

Cleft. — Cut about half way to midrib.

Cordate. — Heart-shaped.

(•(f roll a. — See p. 30.

Cor i/ ml). — See p. 40.

Coti/ledoi). — A rudimentary leaf of the embryo.

Crenate. — Scalloped; with rounded teeth.

Culm. — The stem of grasses and sedges.

Cijmc.- — See p. 41.

Decumbent. — Having the base prostrate, the apex rising.

Decurrent. — See p. 35.

Defle.red.— -Turned abruptly downward.

Dehiscent. — Opening to emit the contents.

Dentate. — Toothed.

Diffuse. — Loosely spreading.

Dioecious.— See p. 38.

Dixcoid. — Composed only of tubular flowers.

Disk.— The head of tubulnr flowers in Composite.

Dissected. — Divided into many segments or lobes.

Distinct. — All separate, one from another.

(183)

184 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Divided. — Cleft to the midrib; compound.
Drupe. — See p. 41.

Embryo. — A rudimentary plant in the seed.

Endogen. — See pp. 32, 44.

Exogcn. — See pp. 33, 44.

Exserted. — Protruding out of, as the stamens out of the corolla.

Fertile. — Bearing seed.

Fertilization. — The mingling of the contents of a male and female cell ;

application of plant food to soils.
Filament.— The stalk of an anther.
Follicle.— See p. 42.

Free. — Separate from all other organs or parts.
Fruit.— See p. 41.

Gamopetalous. — Having the petals more or less united.

Glabrous. — Devoid of hairs.

Gland. — A cell or group of cells which exudes a liquid.

Globose. — Spherical or nearly so.

Glume. — The scaly bracts of the spikelets of grasses and sedges.

.— Arrow-shaped with the basal lobes extending straight outward.
Head.— See. p. 40.
Herb. — See p. 32.
Herbaceous. — Leaf-like ; herb-like.

Imperfect. — -Flowers with either stamens or pistils, not with both.
In deh iscen t. — Not opening.
Inferior.— See p. 39.
Infle.rcd. — Bent abruptly inward.

Inflorescence. — The mode of arrangement of flowers on the stem.
' Irrvolurre. — A circle of bracts beneath a flower or flower cluster.
Irregular.— A flower in which one or more of the petals or sepals are
unlike the others.

lanceolate. — Much longer than broad and tapering to a point; lance-shaped.
Leaflet. — One of the divisions of a compound leaf.
Legume. — A pod ; a simple dry fruit, splitting along both sides.
Lens-shaped. — Having both sides curved; or with the form of a double

convex lens.

Linear. — Elongate and narrow with sides nearly parallel.
Lobed. — Deeply cleft or divided.
Lament. — A jointed pod, constricted between the seeds.

Midrib.— The central vein or rib of a leaf.
Monodelphous. — United in. one set

Mono3cious. — Having the stamens and pistils in different flowers on the
same plant.

Naked. — Lacking both calyx and corolla.

Nut. — A one-seeded fruit with a hard shell which does not split when
ripe.

OF TERMS USED IN TEXT. 185

tHj. — Longer th;m broad with the sides nearly parallel.
Oborate. — Ovate with the broad end outward; inversely ovate.
Obtuse. — lilunt or roiinded.
Orbicular. — Nearly circular in outline.
Ova rij.— See p. 3i>.
Ovate. — Egg-shaped.
Ovoid. — Same as ovate.
Ovule. — A minute or unripe

.^ — See p. 41.
Panicked. — Arranged in a panicle.
Prippu-xs — The bristles, awiis, teeth, etc., borne on the tops of the achenes

of Coinpositae aiul aiding in their distribution.
Parasitic. — Growing upon other plants and absorbing nourishment there-

from.

Parted.— Deeply cleft.
Peduncle. — The stalk of a flower.

Pellucid. — Admitting the passage of light ; translucent.
Perfect. — Flowers with both stamens and pistils.
Perianth. — Having the calyx and corolla so similar as not to be readily

distinguished.
Persistent. — Remaining on the plant until withered or after growth has

ceased.

Petal. — One of the parts of the corolla.
Petiole.— The stalk of a leaf.

Pinnate. — Leaves divided into leaflets along a common axis.
Pistil.— See p. 38.
Pistillate.- -Possessing pistils.
Plumose. — Feather-like.

Pollen. — The male fertilizing grains borne by the stamens.
Polypetalous. — With separate petals.
Pubescent. — Bearing hairs.
Punctate. — Marked with translucent dots.

Raceme. — See p. 40.

Ray. — The flat strap-shaped corolla of a Composite!? flower.

Receptacle. — The end of the flower stalk bearing the floral organs or

flowers.

Ti ecu rvcd. — Curved back wa rds.
Rootstock. — An underground stem with buds.

Rosette. — One or more circles of leaves lying flat on the ground.
litnjosc. — Wrinkled.

Sac. — A pouch or cavity as of anthers or embryo.

Scale. — A minute leaf.

Scalloped. — With rounded teeth.

Sensitive. — Closing or folding when touched.

Sepal. — One of the parts of the calyx.

Sessile. — Without a stalk.

Hi lit/ uc.— See p. 42.

Spike. — An elongated cluster of sessile blossoms.

186 THE INDIANA AVEKD BOOK.

Spikelet.—A. little spike.

Spreading. — Nearly prostrate on the ground.

Stamen. — See. p. 37.

Sterile. — Without seeds or spores.

Stigma. — See p. 39.

Stipules. — Appendages borne at the base of the leaf stalk.

Stipulate. — Bearing stipules.

Style. — The narrowed top of the ovary-

Succulent. — Soft and juicy; fleshy.

Superior. — Said of the ovary when free from calyx.

Suture. — A line of splitting or opening.

Terminal. — Borne 011 the end of the stem or branch.

Terete. — Circular in cross section.

Truncate. — Cut square off.

Tul)er. — A short thick underground stem.

Tubercle. — A wart-like grain or projection.

Umbel. — See p. 41.

Umbellet. — A small or secondary umbel.

Utricle. — An achene or one-seeded fruit with a loose outer covering.

Whorl. — A circle of three or more leaves or other organs arising from

the same level.
Wing. — A thin expansion of a seed or stem.

Index.

Page

Actinomeris 174

Amaranth Family, weeds of 72

Annual weed* 17

Artichoke, Jerusalem 173

Aster 170

Barley, wild 61

Barnyard grass 52

Beard-grass 51

Beggars' lice 113

Beggar-ticks 100

Bell-flower Family, weeds of 140

Biennial weeds 18

Bindweed, black OS

bracted 108

Birds as wecxl-seed destroyers 25

Bitter-sweet 127

Blackberry, wild 80

Black-eyed Susan 171

Blue bur 114

Blueweed 115

Boneset 150

Borage Family, weeds of 112

Bouncing-bet 79

Brier, common 80

Broom-sedge 51

Buckhorn 137

Buckwheat, climbing false OS

wild 08

Kuckwheat Family, weeds of 03

Buffalo-bur 120

Bull-nettle 125

Burdock 103

Bur-grass 54

Burseed 114

Butter and eggs 131

Buttercup Family, weeds of 80

Butterfly-weed 105

Butterweed 158

Canada thistle 100

Carpet-weed 70

Carrot Family, weeds of 100

Carrot, wild 101

Catchfly, night-flowering 79

sleepy 78

Catnip 118

Charlock , 83

(187)

188 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Page

Cheat 55

Chess > 55

duckweed, common 80

Chicory 143

Cinquefoil, common 87

rough 88

Cocklebur 151 , 152

Cockle 78, 79

Cone-flower, green-headed 1 72

thin-leaved 171

Corn groniwell 114

Couch-grass 5G

Cowbane, spotted 103

Cow parsnip 102

Crab-grass 52

Crowfoot Family, weeds of 80

Cup-plant 1 70

Dandelion 144

Darkey-head 171

Dead-nettle 121

Dock G4

Dodder Family, weeds of 110

Dogbane Family, weeds of 104

Dog-fennel 1(51, 179

Elecampane 109

Evening primrose, common 99

Everlasting, fragrant or common 159

plantain-leaf 159

Families of weeds, keys to 43, 45, 47

Figwort Family, weeds of * 129

Finger-grass 52

Fireweed 103

Five-finger 87

Fleabane 1 77, 178

Flowers of weeds 35

Foxtail, green 54

yellow 53

Fruits of weeds 41

Galingale 5,8

Garlic, wild 00

Germander, American 118

Golden-rod 108

Goose-grass 07

Goosefoot Family, weeds of 09

Grass Family, weeds of 50

Ground-cherry 124

Ground ivy 119

Hawkweed 148

Hedge nettle 121

Hemlock, poison 103

INDEX. 1 * 9

Page

Henbit 121

Hogweed 1 50

Horse nettle 1 25

ITorseweed , 149, 158

Hound's- tongue 113

IndiMiia weeds, classes of 12

origin of 11

Indian mallow 97

tobacco 141, 159

Inflorescence of weeds 40

Iron-weed 1 54, 1 74

Ivy, i>oison 94

Jimson-weed 128

Jo-pye-weetl 150

Keys to Families of weeds 4.'^, 45, 47

Knot-grass 07

Lady's thumb 65

Lamb's quarters 09

Leaves of weeds 33

Lettuce, prickly 140

wild 148

Lily Family, weeds of 00

Lobelia, great 141

Mallow Family, weeds of 95

Man-of-t he-earth 108

Marigold, bur 1 74

foetid 101

Mayweed 179

Meadow-grass, pungent , 55

Medic, hop , 89

Medicinal properties of weeds 28

Mercury, three-seeded 92

Mexican tea 70

Milfoil 178

Milkweed Family, weeds of 105

Mint Family, weeds of 117

Morning-glory Family, weeds of 107

Motherwort 120

Mullen, common 129

moth 131

Mustard Family, weeds of 81

Mustard 82, 84

Nettle Family, weeds of 01

Nettle, bull 125

hedge 121

horse 125

slender 02

Texas 120

Nightshade 127

Nut-grass, yellow 58

190 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.

Page

Old-witch grass 53

Onion, wild 60

Orache 71

Origin of Indiana weeds 11

Ox-eye 170

Ox-eye daisy ISO

Parsley Family, weeds of 100

Parsnip, wild 102

Partridge pea 89

Pea Family, weeds of 88

'ennyroyal 122

'epper-grass, wild 82

'eppermint ' 123

'erennial weeds 19

'ersicary, glandular 05

Pigeon-berry 75

-grass 53

-weed 114

Pigweed Family, weeds of 72

Pilewort 132, 103

Pink Family, weeds of 77

Plantain Family, weeds of 135

Pleurisy-root 105

Poison hemlock 103

ivy 94

sumac 95

Pokeweed 75

Potato Family, weeds of 124

Prickly potato 120

Prickly sida 90

Primrose, evening 99

Purslane 77. 92

Quack-grass 50

Queen Anne's lace 101

Ragweed Family, weeds of 149

Red-root 73

Rib-grass loT

Ribwort 137

Roots of weeds • >!

Rose Family, weeds of 85

Rush Family, weeds of 59

Russian thistle 71

Sand-brier 125

-bur 54

Sedge Family, weeds of 57

Senna, wild 88

Shepherd's purse 84

Silkweed 107

Smartweed 00

Snake-root, white , , 158

INDEX. 191

Page

Sneezeweed 175

Scapwort 71)

Sorrel, field (i3

Sow-thistle 145

Spanish needles 101

Spearmint 123

Speedwell 133

Spraying for weeds 24

Spurge Family, weeds of 91

Squirrel-tail grass 57

Steel-weed 177

Stickseed, Virginia 113

Stinking-grass 55

St. John's-wort Family, weeds of 1)8

Sumac Family, weeds of 1)4

Sunflower, common 1 73

wild 172

Sweet clover DO

Sweet potato', wild 108

Tansy 1(52

Tear-thumb, arrow-leaved (51)

Teasel 139

Thistle, Canada 100

common 1 04

Thistle Family, weeds of 153

Thorn apple 128

Thorough wort 157

Tick-trefoil, hoary 1)0

Toad-flax 131

Tongue-grass 82

Trumpet creeper 134

Tumble-weed 53, 74

Velvet leaf 1)7

Venus' looking glass 140

Vervain Family, weeds of 115

Water hemlock 103

Water-pepper 00

Weed, definitions of 0

Weed extermination, rules for 20

seeds, distribution of 7

Weeds, losses caused by 13

of cities and towns 10

used in medicine 21)

Wheat thief 1 14

White-top 177

Wire-grass 59

Wood sage 118

Wormseed 70

Wormwood 103

Yarrow .178

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