Erigeron Philadelphicus, L. Sunflower Family.
Hairy, perennial herbs. Stems.—One to three feet high; leafy to the top. Root-leaves.—Spatulate or obovate. Stem-leaves.—Oblong; sessile, with broad clasping base; irregularly toothed. Flower-heads.—In a loose corymb. Disks.—Yellow; three or four lines across. Rays.—Innumerable; very narrow; flesh-color to rose-purple; about three lines long. Hab.—Widely distributed on the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts.
The feathery, daisy-like flowers of the common fleabane are of frequent occurrence in moist meadows or along the roadsides in spring. The ray-flowers are so narrow as to form a delicate fringe around the disk.
The common name arose from the belief that these plants were harmful to fleas.
[GROUND-PINK—Gilia dianthoides.]
![[GROUND-PINK—Gilia dianthoides.]](#3624944100741987669_f076.png.id-543933822227187361.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
TURKISH RUGGING.
Chorizanthe staticoides, Benth. Buckwheat Family.
A foot high or more, with widely spreading branches. Leaves.—All radical; oblong; obtuse; twelve to thirty lines long, including petioles. Involucres.—Loosely clustered; sessile; one-flowered; campanulate; with six bristle-like teeth. Perianth.—Pink; two lines long; six-lobed; not fringed. Stamens.—Mostly nine; on the perianth. Ovary.—One-celled. Styles three. Stigmas capitate. Hab.—From Monterey to San Diego.
In late spring the dry, open hills of the south are overrun with the soft lavender of the Chorizanthe. The flowers are small, but the whole plant is purplish, and the stems are quite as productive of color as the blossoms. In fact, the whole plant seems to consist of a scraggly interlacement of slender branches and small flowers, as the leaves, which nestle close to the ground, are not very noticeable.