Part 10 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 146.]
=Clover Dodder.= _Cuscuta Epithymum_ Murr. Stems very slender, a parasitic vine; seeds oval to spherical, dull, pitted, color yellowish, light to dark brown, light green to purple, about 2 mm. long. Introduced from Europe. Occasionally found on red clover.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 147.]
=Gronovius Dodder.= _Cuscuta Gronovii_ Willd. Seed light to dark brown, surface minutely granular, free from gloss, a few spherical, most of them indented as they dry or variously angled where they crowded against each other in the pod, 1.5-1.7 mm. in diameter. Species of dodder are difficult to distinguish one from the other. This is common on low land, where it draws nourishment from a great variety of plants, such as willows, balsams, nettles.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 148.]
=Spanish Dodder.= _Cuscuta planiflora_ Tenore. Color light to dark pink, purple buff, olive green; surface well roughened, almost reticulated, in shape flattened on one side, ovoid, oval angled, indented in great variety, 0.7-1.2 mm. long.
BORAGE FAMILY. BORAGINACEAE.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 149.]
=Hound's Tongue.= _Cynoglossum officinale_ L. Flowers reddish purple; ovary brown deeply 4-lobed separating into four achenes, 5-7 mm. long, flattened, broadly ovate or circular, excepting a slight extension at one end, lower side having an ovate scar, nearly half as long as the achenes, all the rest of the surface clothed with straight, stiff, cap-shaped hairs, bearded on all sides. Introduced from Europe. Very objectionable in pastures.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 150.]
=Stick-Seed. Burr Seed.= _Lappula echinata_ Gilibert. _Lappula Lappula_ (L.) Karst. Flowers blue, ovary deeply 4-lobed separating into four warty achenes, each one brown, about 2.5 mm. long, slightly flattened, ovate with wedge-shaped apex; the upper side bearing a few stiff straight, diverging cap-shaped hairs, bearded on all sides; lower side dest.i.tute of hairs, bearing a straight ridge from the point to the middle of the large end. Introduced from Europe. Very objectionable in pastures.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 151.]
=Wild Comfrey.= _Lappula Virginiana_ (L.) Greene. Flowers blue; ovary deeply 4-lobed separating into four brown achenes, about 3 mm. long, flattened on upper side, broadly ovate, the apex wedge-shaped, the upper side clothed with stiff straight cap-shaped hairs, bearded on all sides; lower side a low 4-sided cone, nearly smooth with a concave triangular scar. Native to rich woodlands.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 152.]
=Red Root. Wheat Thief. Corn Gromwell.= _Lithospermum arvense_ L.
Flowers white; ovary 4-divided separating into four hard, conical-ovoid achenes, each dull gray, erect, wrinkled, 2.5-3 mm. long, convex on the back, keeled on the inner side, base obliquely truncate, containing two minute white tubercles. A prominent weed of high rank in fields of winter wheat.
VERVAIN FAMILY. VERBENACEAE.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 153.]
=Blue Vervain.= _Verbena hastata_ L. Achenes crowded, four together until mature, dull, reddish brown, flattened, oblong, 1.7-2 mm. long, bordered by a narrow margin, the outer face convex, bearing 3-5 small vertical ridges branching and uniting at the apex, forming a distinct network, the inner face sloping to the margin from a central vertical ridge; a light colored scar is seen on one side of the base. Native to this country. Not important.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 154.]
=Nettle-leaved Vervain.= _Verbena urticifolia_ L. Achenes 1.6-1.8 mm.
long, very closely resembling the last above mentioned. The achenes of this one are a trifle shorter and broader, more nearly oval than oblong.
Native to this country. Not common in fields.
MINT FAMILY. l.a.b.i.aTAE.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 155.]
=Dead Nettle.= _Lamium amplexicaule_ L. Achenes light brown, conspicuously marked by white spots some of which coalesce making the surface striped crosswise, obovate-oblong, pointed at the smaller end, 1.5-2 mm. long, the outer surface rounded, the inner face angled, the concave surfaces sloping to the edges from a central vertical ridge.