“Food of the Gods,” is the meaning of the latin name Ambrosiaceae, of the ragweed family. “Poison of the devils” would have been a more appropriate name for this family of weeds. Only a devil could have concocted such a brew as the ragweed pollen which each year adds thou-sands of new and unsuspecting innocents to its list of victims. A brew so potent that it annually upsets millions of persons’ respiratory systems and yet chemically defies the efforts of the greatest human chemists to detect the secret of its evil power.
WEEDS RELATED TO HAY FEVER
Name Time of Pollination Careless Weed July August September Cocklebur August September October Curly Dock May June July English Plan May June July False Ragweed July August September Giant Ragweed August September October Hemp July August Hop July August Lamb’s Quarters July August September Marsh Elder July August September Mugworts August September October Rough Pigweed July August September Russian Thistle July August September Sage Brush August September October Shad Scale August September Sheep Sorrel May June July Short Ragweed August September October South Ragweed July August September Western Ragweed July August September West Water Hemp July August September
The ragweeds are the Jesse James family of the plant world. Renegade plants if ever any existed. Not fit to grow in the same field with anything worth while. Good for nothing except trouble. As a last resort only a cow will eat the ragweed plant, and then it sours the cow’s milk. It is a plant family without tastes or scruples. They grow anywhere and everywhere. Ragweed can be found in gardens, fields, city lots, pastures, waste places, lake shores, road sides, ditches, or any kind of soil but pure sand.
Although the ragweeds are responsible for a vast majority of the fall hay fever cases, there are other weeds that must be recognized and condemned.
To understand fully how the rag-weeds and their allies are able to include almost every state in the United States in their hay fever grip, it is necessary to show you the family album of this group. Their family tree is by no means small or simple. But we shall only introduce you to the members of the family and relatives that have been known to take part in the hay fever scandal. You should at least know the entire ragweed branch for if you are allergic to the pollens of one ragweed, you are probably sensitive to the pollens of all ragweeds.