GOLDENRODS
(Solidago) Thistle family
When these flowers transform whole acres into "fields of the
cloth-of-gold," the slender wands swaying by every roadside, and
purple asters add the final touch of imperial splendor to the
autumn landscape, already glorious with gold and crimson, is any
parterre of Nature's garden the world around more gorgeous than
that portion of it we are pleased to call ours? Within its limits
eighty-five species of goldenrod flourish, while a few have
strayed into Mexico and South America, and only two or three
belong to Europe, where many of ours are tenderly cultivated in
gardens, as they should be here, had not Nature been so lavish.
To name all these species, or the asters, the sparrows, and the
warblers at sight is a feat probably no one living can perform;
nevertheless, certain of the commoner goldenrods have
well-defined peculiarities that a little field practice soon
fixes in the novice's mind.
Along shady roadsides, and in moist woods and thickets, from
August to October, the BLUE-STEMMED, WREATH or WOODLAND GOLDENROD
(S.
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