In ancient times the elecampane was considered an important stimulant to the human brain and stomach, and it was mentioned as such in the writings of Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” over two thousand years ago.
The common name is supposed to be a corruption of ala campania, and refers to the frequent occurrence of the plant in that ancient province of Southern Italy.
Fall Dandelion.
Leontodon autumnalis. Composite Family (p. [13]).
Scape.—Five to fifteen inches high, branching. Leaves.—From the root, toothed or deeply incised. Flower-heads.—Yellow, composed entirely of strap-shaped flowers; smaller than those of the common dandelion.
From June till November we find the fall dandelion along the New England roadsides, as well as farther south. While the yellow flower-heads somewhat suggest small dandelions the general habit of the plant recalls some of the hawkweeds.
Wild Sunflower.
Helianthus giganteus. Composite Family (p. [13]).
Stem.—Rough or hairy, from three to ten feet high, branched above. Leaves.—Lance-shaped, pointed, rough to the touch, set close to the stem. Flower-heads.—Yellow, composed of both ray and disk-flowers.
PLATE LVII
WILD SUNFLOWER.—H. giganteus.
In late summer many of our lanes are hedged by this beautiful plant, which, like other members of its family, lifts its yellow flowers sunward in pale imitation of the great life-giver itself. We have twenty-two different species of sunflower. H. divaricatus is of a lower growth, with opposite, widely spreading leaves and larger flower-heads. H. annuus is the garden species familiar to all; this is said to be a native of Peru. Mr. Ellwanger writes regarding it: “In the mythology of the ancient Peruvians it occupied an important place, and was employed as a mystic decoration in ancient Mexican sculpture. Like the lotus of the East, it is equally a sacred and an artistic emblem, figuring in the symbolism of Mexico and Peru, where the Spaniards found it rearing its aspiring stalk in the fields, and serving in the temples as a sign and a decoration, the sun-god’s officiating handmaidens wearing upon their breasts representations of the sacred flower in beaten gold.”