Show i Observation tiO of Curious Latest Autumn Flowers and Medicinal Weeds BY BV J H PAUL DIRECTOR OF NATURE STUDY ST DV IN THE STATE NORMAL This week weck may present the last op opportunIty opportunity we shall have this season of observing any of the wild flowers in bloom Recent observations In the fields and on the hillsides revealed only the following species not previously described The docks for grade eight tho the yarrow and the prickly for grade seven the medic or small yellow clover for grado grade six the great gr at mullein for tor grade five Jive the mustards and water cress for tor grade four tour the thorn apple or Jimson weed for grade three the colored autumn leaves of sumach maple etc for grades one and two We Ve may consider these In their order Older I The Dock Family We have several species of ot docks growing in waste places or by water ditches They have long spikes of greenish flowers without petals the three Inner divisions of ot the calyx al always always always ways forming a kind of ot triangular nut nutlike like the grain of buckwheat the three outer small and One or more of the Inner divisions bear on the back a small granule As the flowers ripen the spikes s become In color Stamens six stigmas three and tufted Stems with joints which are arc sheathed with papery coverings cut obliquely at the top Flowers in hi little ring clusters called or fascicles Our five docks are lumex and nd They may be studied with advantage in the eighth grade The roots of the docks are valued In medicine as blood purifiers and for forskin forskin forskin skin diseases They possess a faint odor and a bitter astringent taste They The should bo be collected in late sum summer summer mer raer and autumn after the fruiting tops have ripened They are then washed split lengthwise leng into halves or quarters quarters quarters and carefully dried The price ranges from two to eight cents per pound Where here these plants are com common common common mon the class might make the experiment experiment ment of collecting drying and selling the roots The Renowned Yarrow Yarrow makes a pretty study It is isa Isa isa a common weed widely dispersed oc occurring along roadsides and In old fields About ten to twenty inches in height its numerous finely cut feath feathery feathery ery ry and an somewhat s drooping leaves l aves give it a dainty aspect The small white composite flowers in bunches corymbs have about four or five short rays with pistils and no pap pus and a similar number of disc flowers They have an agreeable pungent sharp and bitter taste and aromatic smell A variety with rose purple flowers is sometimes cultivated If H eaten by cows the milk is made bit t tr r By collecting and drying the en entire Em entire tire Ure plant when in flower the leaves and heads h ads may be used as a stimulant tonic or sold to the local druggist for perhaps two to five cents per pound It is called Achillea and is suitable for observation and collection by the seventh grade heron Cheron the centaur taught to Achilles the virtues of the yarrow that lio ho might make an ointment to heal his Myrmidons wounded in the siege of Troy The plant therefore bears the name of the tho Grecian hero The flowers of the plant are small PO so 8 that it masses them together to at attract attract attract i tract the bees Its ray florets floret have developed de dev i eloped v their showiness at the expense of their stamens while the yellow disc flowers alone are perfect and fertile By contenting Itself with neglected corners of ot the earth eart the yarrow arrow gives us many valuable lessons on how to succeed Many Ian magical virtues according to folklore in different localities have been attributed to this little plant pl nL Any n stories known of it might be told to the class Prickly Rag Weed or Bitter Weed WeedA A student notes the following differ differences differences between the unarmed plant pre I f I f V a 4 9 ti 1 Ar ArA A I r 1 1 i v vh Th ThC h e eY Y C Jn ra rai raThe e tY i The Cosmos Co Drawn from nature for this article by Se So grade pupils of the Training school described and the th prickly bit bitter ter weed The latter is not so bushy it has a dull and dry appearance It grows in dry places and has le less 6 foliage The stem is rough tough upper part more hairy than lower from two to three feet teet high and striped red and brown Leaves oval and less pointed have havea a petiole are much smaller and not so broad are in bunches butches and alternate There are black spots around the mar margin margin margin gin of the larger leaves The small smallest smallest smallest est leaves leves have haye ablack stripe on the midrib t The scale of the Is differ different different different ent It appears to be There is I a a black stripe on each seal scallop lop Is bell shaped and somewhat hairy hall The staminate flow flowers flowers flowers ers are small and bell like on the up upper upper upper per part of the steam The flower Is lower down and finally be becomes becomes becomes comes a bur The burs are many and andare andare andare are at the base of the tile leaf In taking the staminate flower to toI pieces I I noticed a red stain The odor is strong Later Lator on the stem becomes hollow I noticed that the leaves nearest to the flowers were larger than those lower down on the stem The scientific name namo of this compos composite Ito ite flower is Ambrosia A R The Last of the Clovers The only specimen of the sixth grade rade group I found flowering this week and not previously described Is I the tiny tin yellow wild clover cloer medic or nonesuch one of several sev ral plants erroneously called the shamrock because of its three leaflets It lies flat Hat on the ground or ascends slightly its creeping stems varying from six to twenty inches In length It is minutely hairy has a peduncle or flower stalk much longer than tho the leaves bearing an oblong spike o of small yellow flowers of the lucern am and clover type which like them yiem hem attract bees and butterflies The corolla has five parts standard wings and keel as in the sweet pea Its pods are kid kidney kidney kidney ney shaped and the size of a pin head when ripe each but Bj By B massing its small flowers the little thing Is able to attract the bees with Ith the bright mass just as the lucern and white sweet clover do The latter plant still blooming vigorously if cu cut and dried and hung in the school room till Thanksgiving day will Impart a afresh afresh afresh fresh sweet hay ha odor to the air all o othe of the room The use of these plants as food for cattle deserves further com comment comment ment merit in the class The Giant Mullein Teachers will please take notice that tha that the mullein is still blooming mostly ii In Inthe inthe the canyons cany canyons ns or near the th mountains ac according according cording to my observation this year at the end of October It can be b rec recognized recognized i by its tall erect stout stem sometimes six or seven feet high its white woolly or appearance and its long spike of golden sold en yellow flowers The densely hairy alternate sessile oblong acute leaves rather thick and rough measure from four to I twelve inches in length It Is a bien biennial biennial biennial nial and the first year year produces only a rosette of ot leaves the tall tail spike rind nd flowers appearing the second year The leaves and corolla If It carefully dried rejecting the calyx may be sold per perhaps perhaps perhaps haps to local druggists and should hould bring from 3 to 5 cents per pound for the leaves and at least 25 cents per pound for the dried petals and stamens Mullein is used in coughs and catarrh to quiet nervous Irritation and to re relieve relieve relieve lieve pain and Inflammation cum cum is a fifth grade study Ac According According According cording to Delpino the th blossom Is best adapted to pollen collecting c lle bees They The alight on the two projecting stamens the other three being short and woolly and rub off pollen on their under undersides undersides sides sl es from the two projecting stamens while clinging for support to the wool of the three ones But as ai soon 1 as the bee settles on another flower its stigma receives rec les the pollen the under side of ot the bees body before it gets dusted with more The three stamens furnish the bee with food the two load him with pollen John Bur Burroughs Burroughs Burroughs roughs traveled miles to see this velvet plant The covering protects the th delicate and sensitive plant cells from intense light draught or cold since sine the mullein grows in ex exposed exposed exposed posed places in dry fields banks or on stony and waste land near the mouth of the canyons The season is likely to o be very dry dl when It flowers June to September while the rosettes of ot the first years growth must endure the cold winter before the second or flow flowering flowering ering season Blanchan says that humming birds have been detected gathering these silken hairs to line their heir nests The stems are made Into walking canes with the crooked roots for or handles and country girls g are said saido to o rub their cheeks with tile tie leaves to tomake tomake tomake make them rosy The Yellow Vellow Mustards The The i coarse coane hedge mustard is our most mo t common species It has rigid spreading branches and spikes of tiny pale yel yet yellow low ow flowers flower quickly followed by awl shaped pods I that are closely ap ape pressed to the stem It is still bloom lug ng and Is a good fourth grade study The mustard of the scriptural parable was probably either a tree i of Arabia which does not now grow in Galilee or the common black mustard of ot Europe which grows luxuriantly in i Palestine today I Two of the mustard weeds needs w eds are ex extensively extensively used in medicine We Ve have both the black blak bla k I nigra and the yellow alba I They rhey are very similar but the black blackis is larger With seed pods close to the stem while the white has as spreading pods larger and paler flowers and smooth seeds se Tim The black has seeds finely pitted These plants are still I flowering The tops may be pulled off I when most of the pods Dods are ire mature but before they are are ready to spring I open and laid away on a clean shelf to dry The seeds are rite finally gathered up They are arc used for poultices in dys dyspepsia dyspepsia dyspepsia and as an emetic and may bring bing from 3 to 6 cents per pound The wild mustard is a weedy looking Plant numerous yellow flowers ii Ig I c of J t v b bi bi i i 1 Leaves flower and capsules of Jimson weed 2 Yarrow Achil Achillea Achillea lea L 3 Mullein L 4 Leaf fruit fruiting fruiting fruiting ing spike and root of The Tho blossoms are small and grow grows somewhat s in a on short hort thin petioles p The buds open first at atthe atI atthe the bottom of the stem They are I shaped Elta ped like small cucumbers These plants grow to a height of or about four tour I feet Ceet and branch out greatly The up upper upper upper per stems are long slender smooth and rather tough If we taste one we shall find that the plant has a very strong bitter taste which resembles the table mustard The flowers have havea a taste still sUII more bitter The Tile leaves le ves at atthe atthe the top are long or linear but near the bottom they are arc broader and anI afi l are incised I or coarsely One main Vein runs up the middle of the leaf with alternate veins running nning r to the edges This species belongs to the four parted flowers because there are four petals four foul sepals six stamens four long and two taro short hort the stigma is round Most Host flowers in fours belong to the family of the so called because the petals generally form forni a cross cross After the flowers have been fertilized they wither and the seeds are formed In long slender r pods I T think these flowers are fertilized by bythe bythe bythe the Insects because they are so at attractive A S The Poison Thorn Apple A plant p ant of striking appearance now fruiting may be found in Ip some fields I near houses This is the purple thorn apple or Jimson weed Datura Datum tatula of or the poisonous nightshade family The colorless juice of the plants eon a narcotic principle that renders the seed dangerously poisonous and the herbage h somewhat so 50 Henbane bella belladonna belladonna bella donna and tobacco are ared I derived d rived from members of ot this family 1 which also contains how however however i ever the tomato and the potato The thorn apple has hag a large tubular calyx and a c long and plaited corolla bluish white or purple I IThe The large leaves are ovate smooth and angular toothed with unequal sides The fruit Is as large as a small apple and covered with spines Both foliage and flower are arc rank and III scented the stems two to five feet high The dry seeds are numerous black kidney shaped of ot of an aninch anInch aninch inch long flattened and wrinkled For medicine the leaves and seeds are col and dried In the shade Both are poisonous they the are used in asthma asthma asthma ma Children may be poisoned from frome eating e them Leaves or seeds may bring from 2 to 5 cents per pound Third grades may study and collect with the teacher |