Boggy solitudes of Nantucket . to resemble the luminary whichhe adores. All summer there have been very large andbrilliantly colored toad-stools scattered overthe moors, often among the meal plum, andnow peeping up from it are many little ghostflowers, or Indian pipes, while clinging bytheir barbed teeth, like little grappling hooks,the fruits of the burr-marigold are makingthemselves felt by man and beast. The lands are lit With all the autumn blaze of golden-rod,And everywhere the purple asters nod,And bend and wave and flit. CHAPTER XI ND now we come tothe ^ good-byes ofsummer, the golden-r
Boggy solitudes of Nantucket . to resemble the luminary whichhe adores. All summer there have been very large andbrilliantly colored toad-stools scattered overthe moors, often among the meal plum, andnow peeping up from it are many little ghostflowers, or Indian pipes, while clinging bytheir barbed teeth, like little grappling hooks,the fruits of the burr-marigold are makingthemselves felt by man and beast. The lands are lit With all the autumn blaze of golden-rod,And everywhere the purple asters nod,And bend and wave and flit. CHAPTER XI ND now we come tothe ^ good-byes ofsummer, the golden-rod and asters; andwhile this periodmarks what are calledthe ^melancholydays, yet with themcomes the flower thatbedecks acres of dullland, changing it intofields of cloth-of-gold, the royal purples of the aster giv-ing a last rich touch to the autumn coloring,which is already gold and crimson. Golden-rod is a member of the Compositaefamily, of which there are ten thousand spe-cies. It is a family easily recognized, for the 103. 104 BOGGY SOLITUDES OF NANTUCKET flowers are always closely packed together inheads, surrounded by an involucre. It is notso easy to distinguish the golden-rods, as thereare nearly a hundred kinds in the UnitedStates, but a few very common varieties maybe easily told. The botanical name, Solidago, is, accordingto Gray, from the Latin word to make whole,from supposed healing qualities the plant wasbelieved to possess. The S. caesia, or wreathgolden-rod, gets its name from its bluish stem,which is unbranched. In the axils of thelance-shaped, feather-veined leaves are thepale golden clusters of tiny florets. S, semperoirens easily may be recognizedby its stout stem, thick, fleshy, lance-shapedleaves, and great showy clusters of tansy-likeflower-heads. This we call beach golden-rod. It is a magnificent spectacle against thebackground of sand and beach grass. S. jun-cea, the early plume, or yellow top, has smallyellow blossoms waving at the summit of asmooth r
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