To the swamp sunflowers honey-bees hasten for both nectar and
pollen, velvety bumblebees suck the sweets, leaf-cutter and mason
bees, wasps, some butterflies, flies, and beetles visit them
daily, for the round disks mature their perfect fertile florets
in succession. Since the drooping ray flowers, which are
pistillate only, are fertile too, there is no scarcity of seed
set, much to the farmer's dismay. Most cows know enough to
respect the bitter leaves' desire to be let alone; but many a
pail of milk has been spoiled by a mouthful of Helenium among the
herbage. Whoever cares to learn from experience why this was
called the sneezeweed, must take a whiff of snuff made of the
dried and powdered leaves.
The PURPLE-HEAD SNEEZEWEED (H. nudiflorum), its yellow rays
sometimes wanting, occurs in the South and West.
TANSY; BITTER-BUTTONS
(Tanacetum vulgare) Thistle family
Flower-heads - Small, round, of tubular florets only, packed
within a depressed involucre, and borne, in flat-topped corymbs.
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