B. cernua. L. Common Beggar Ticks. About ponds
and ditches ; stem a foot or two high, with small, erect, yellow
flowers ; August. A native of Britain.
B . connata. W. Has the lateral leaves connate ; stem 2
feet high ; in fields ; July.
B . chrysanthemoides. Mx. Grows in wet places ; seeds commonly
with 4 awns ; August.
B. tripartita. L. Much resembles B . frondosa ; grows in
wet places ; leaves opposite, mostly 3-parted, the lower often
pinnatifid ; August.
Twelve species have been introduced from America into England,
and cultivated there.
H e l ia n t h u s . L. 17. 3. Sunflower.
Named from the Greek for sun and flower, on the popular notion,
that the flowers of the great Sunflower turn towards the sun,
and partially follow it, for which there may be some little foundation
; but especially from the size and appearance of that large
and fine flower, the ray florets round the broad disk being an apt
resemblance of the radiating appearance of the border of the sun,
as the broad and glowing face of the “ powerful king of day”
comes “ rejoicing in the east.” This genus belongs almost exclusively
to North and South America, and contains about 30
species, of which 12 are natives of the Middle and Northern
States, and 5 are found in this State, 3 only being indigenous.
They add considerably to the beauty of the woods and hedges in
the autumn, though their fine yellow-rayed flowers are not very
large.
More than 20 species, introduced from America, have been
raised in England.
H. trachelifolius. W. Wild Sunflower. This is the common
sunflower of the woods and hedges ; stem 3 - 4 feet high, branching
towards the summit, roughish ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, serrate,
3-nerved, tapering into a short petiole ; August to October.
H. decapetalus. L. Closely related to the preceding, and
united to it by some botanists, but its characters seem to make it
distinct.
H. altissimus. L. Tall Sunflower. This is a lofty plant of
the hills, with a smooth purple stem ; leaves petiolate and broad-
lanceolate, tapering upwards ; chaff of the seed greenish ; woods ;
July to September.
H. divaricatus. L. Spreading Sunflower. Stem 3 - 5 feet
high, 2 or 3-dichotomously divided, with leaves on long petioles,
rounded at the base ; rather showy, with a spicy odor ; woods ;
in August and September ; vicinity of Boston.
H. tuberosus. L. • Jerusalem Artichoke. The tuberous root
resembles the real artichoke, and the plant, by a corruption of its
Italian name, girasole, was called Jerusalem Artichoke. The
plant was introduced into Europe from Brazil, and cultivated for
its roots before the potato was known j hence the value attached
to this artichoke, forty years and more ago, by many who had
emigrated to this country. At the present time, the roots are
little used. The plant has become partially naturalized.
H. annuus. L. The Sunflower of the gardens. A coarse
plant, large and tall, and bearing a huge disk of flowers from an
inch to a foot in diameter. Within a few years the tubular florets
of the disk have become ligulate, or strap-shaped, like those of
the ray, and the whole flower is far more splendid and sun-like,
and more of the flowers are turned towards the sun than away from
it. The disk of the flowers, and the leaves also, contain an odorous
substance, adhesive to the touch, like a resin. The seed is
large and abundant, and sometimes raised for the feeding of pd>ul-
try. It also contains a valuable oil, easily expressed from it,
and a good substitute for sweet oil. The plant is a native of
South America, whence it was introduced into England, and
thence into the United States'.