Morning journal and courier., 1893-10-20
A cuAPTER ON GOLDEN RODS.
There Are Finy Varieties Of This Flower We All Gather For Rustic

There Are Ftfty Varieties of This
 Flower We All Gather For Hustle
 Bouquets.
 IC q. Valentine In Country GcntIcmcn.l
 But how can you distinguish them one from anotheII They sil look alike 10 me; & golden rod Is simply A golden rod" This Is the frat exclamation by which the sug- gestion of the study of the golden rod Is often met. It comes especially from those who have hitherto thought of 1t only in its two opposing characteristics Rs "s mis- erable weed" or ss ''our national flower. |"
 It might seem Rt first thought, ss though 1t were impossible to assign tine golden plumes, having 90 much general resem- blAnce to Teach other, to fifty different spe- cies. Yet expert botsnists do not find the difficulty % great as would appear up2n the surface. The leaves vary greatly, oOsh the radical or root leaves, and these of the stem. The iuaorescsnce divides readily i'm to three clsssss-short, sxillsTy rscsnes, terminal panicles and one sided rscemes, and terminal, corymbous rscemes. The plants may be broadly divided into rough and smooth, inlsHd and salt-msrsh vaIie- ties, and msay of them have inrrowed main stalks, while others are destitute of furrows. Besides these marked features which divide ths numerous varieties into several disiinc. cla-s.s, the number of flowers in a lead together with inc siZs and showinsss ut the rays forms & chief fac tor in determining the several Rpsciss.
 Daring single sessoa's work the writer has found not less than eleven varieties, growing within thirty mile. ss sn extreme limit, or within radius of fifte-n miles from New York city. Of these, Long I=- land, Staten Island and eastern Nss Jersey each furnished It's qno's, and some of the species were common in all three of the die tricts. h goirg farther south, perhaps as far ss Long Branch, four ether varieties were added.
 The earliest found variety WAS Soliisgo gigsntes, the first good specimens of which were brought in unusually early, the third week in JHly. This is E tell. branched species, having the somewhat rare combi- nation of a smooth stem with hsiry branch es and pedicels ss & strong distinguishing feature. The leaves are Botched with sharp, spreading teeth, and thsiE rouga. oiliste or fringed margins, and the three strong veins or nerves running length | wise, help to give testimony Aa 10 the species The color, too, is dseper thsn in many varieties, it tending strongly | toward orange. This variety is 60 widely | scattered that one can be no more definite | than to say that 1t is common in low | grounds both in the nited States snd In | Canada.
 Possibly inc easiest varieties for the | youthful or casusl observer to dIstin guiEh Il are two which in come parts would not bs
 suspected of being golden rods at sll. These | are s. bscolor and ;. Rsia- The latter is really the only one that bears out the name | of golden rod; 1t has 6 fisKuous, polished, | brownish-purpls, wand like stem, set Ri | close intervals with short, erect clusters of large and brilliant heads of bloom in inc axils of the leaves. In fine specimens the rays are three or four timss ss large ss iu most or the other varieties, aud it is this | separste flowers, which give size % the heads of this sort. This is considered by | botspists one of the most elegant species, but popular favor would be given far mora
 readily to other sorts showing denser and
 broader plumes. Its natural home is said
 to be thiekets and dry soods; but where fl
 grows in the partial shade Of damp, open
 woods, the flowers have & siZs and bril- lIAnee that do not pertain 10 the variety i1 dry and unshsded situations. Tbe stem,
 are usually cylindrical, but there is sub
 variety growing In some parts, called fiex
 icaulis. which has angular stems.
 5. bicolor, though genuine. might slmos
 be called sham golden rod. but that
 sham is supposed to resemble the genuine
 in general appsrspcs- A close look, how | ever, shows that the tiny flowers ccmpos iag the heads are of pale yellow, and that
 although the somewhat large rays give thu
 distinctive cream color, there are reRllI
 two shades to support the specific sppella
 ton of blcolOr. One writer placed among the Asters, bdtTt resembles 8. cp.i somewhat closely. IL is found in Canals snd frcm the ses board through the mid dle and western states, but not st th | south.
 D. .ffsrfng from the foregoing in Almos every particular and very easy of recogni ton, when its peeuliarities are once iKe
 in the mind, is the variety known as Sol } dago memorials. In Epite of the fact tbi it is described in the bo,Aniss as a con r mon. starved looking species, with a gre, 2 ish-dusty aspect,it Is one of our most besi