The disc flowers are small, tubular, and 5-pointed, of a dull yellow color; the stamens are protruding, spirally curled, and brownish; the rays, from 8 to 15 in number, are long, and broad, and colored a brilliant orange-yellow. The leafy cup, which encloses the head, is composed of several rows of green parts; the heads grow singly from the summit of the stalk, or by twos and threes, on stems, from the angles of the leaves. This is a towering plant, whose brilliant flowers and vigorous leafage render it an effective feature of the wild hedgerow. Its tuberous root is sometimes cooked as a vegetable, and in a raw state is eaten by men and boys.
WILD SUNFLOWER: Helianthus tuberosus.
| Bushy Goldenrod. | Solidago lanceolata. |
Found during August, growing in open, dry fields, and waysides.
The stalk reaches about 3 feet in height; it is leafy, and branching widely, slender, and rough to the touch. Color, green.
The leaf is like a grass blade, very narrow and long, pointed at both ends, with an entire margin, and parallel veins; the texture is thin, the edge and midrib slightly rough. In color gray-green.
The disc flowers are few, the ray flowers very short, from 10 to 18 in number. The heads are arranged in small flat-topped clusters.
The branches are so nicely graduated in length that they form a large-topped flowery summit to the slender stalk, the buds opening in the center first. The green is tempered to a more perfect harmony with the yellow bloom than is usual among the Goldenrods, and the cup is of so yellow a hue it scarcely shows a trace of green.
