serve its independence and wild beauty.

[Illustration: "CATTLE BENEATH THE TREES WOULD MAKE THE SAME PICTURE"
(p. 116)]

* * * * *

It is worth while to spend a little time with the friendly golden-rod
which spreads all over upland and lowland almost as generous as the
sunshine. To many of us one stalk of golden-rod looks much like
another, but a very little study will readily enable us to distinguish
between the different species and will add wonderfully to its interest
and charm. There is the tall, smooth stemmed golden-rod, with saw
toothed leaves, except near the base and ample pyramids of
medium-sized clusters of blossoms; this is the solidago serotina, or
late golden-rod. A similar golden-rod, but with hairy stems and
smaller flower clusters is the solidago Canadensis or Canada
golden-rod. Both these grow in the bottoms anywhere near the creek.
Along the moist clay banks the elm-leaved golden-rod shows its tall
stem with the leaves which give the plant its distinctive name,
surmounted by several threadlike spreading branches strung with little
bits of leaves and clusters of yellow blossoms at the ends, as if the
slender, curving, green branches had been dipped in gold dust. On the
same slopes may usually be found the zig-zag or broad-leaved
golden-rod, with leaves as broad as the palm of a lady's hand and
little wand-like clusters of blossoms, several of them from the axil
of each leaf. This plant is called the zig-zag golden-rod because its
stem often turns first one way and then the other, as if it hadn't
made up its mind which way to grow. Higher up on the dry rocky banks
is the gray or field golden-rod, whose small leaves are covered with
grayish down and whose rather short stem is topped by a flattish
pyramid of brilliant yellow flowers. This is one of the early
golden-rods, but it lasts well into the fall. Another handsome species
which is fairly common is the solidago rigida, or hard-leaved
golden-rod, whose leaves are thick, rough and fairly broad, the lower
ones sometimes a foot long, and whose flower clusters form a broad
flat top. Each cluster is very large, containing twenty-five or thirty
flowers if you care to pull one to pieces and count them. One stem
will have several hundred of these flower clusters and each cluster
contains twenty-five flowers on an average, a fine example of Nature's
wealth and bounty. Perhaps the most handsome species of all, here in
Iowa, i