You remember that early in the spring Peter had searched for gold and found it beside the Laughing Brook in the Marsh Marigolds. Later Dandelions and Buttercups made parts of the Green Meadows look as if a cloth of gold had been laid over them. But with the passing of these, yellow gave way to other colors. There were, of course, some yellow flowers all through the season, but not in numbers sufficient to tinge the landscape with their color.

But with the approach of fall yellow again took possession of field and meadow and the edge of the woodlands, as if the flowers were trying to make people forget that the sunshine was daily growing weaker. The gold of the Goldenrod was everywhere, and to add to this glory of rich color now came the Sunflowers.

One of the first of these that Peter found was the Tall or Giant Sunflower. He found it on the edge of the swamp, where of course the ground was damp. It was so tall that Peter had to tip his head so far back it made his neck ache in order to see the flowers. Some of them were quite ten feet above the ground. Later Peter found some that were not over three feet above the ground, and others that were halfway between the two. In all, the plants and flowers were alike, save that some of the plants were branched and some were not.

The stalk was rough and hairy. It was more or less stained with purple. The leaves were lance-shaped and sharp-pointed, and the edges were cut like the teeth of a saw. They were rough on both sides and on the underside hairy.

The flowers grew on long, rather slender stems with small leaves. Many of the flowers, or flower heads, for that is what they really were, were more than two inches across. As with the Daisies and the Asters, each flower head was really a colony of flowers growing together in a little green, half-round cup. As with the Daisies and the Asters, the outer or ray florets were petal-like. There were ten to twenty of these. They were like little golden banners, and served to attract Bees and insects, for they were so bright that they could be seen a long distance.

The center was, of course, made up of tiny, tube-like, perfect flowers crowded closely together, and these were yellowish. The flower heads made Peter think of giant, all yellow Daisies.

"Pretty, aren't they?" said Little Friend the Song Sparrow, who had stopped to see what Peter was looking at.

"They are lovely!" declared Peter.

"There is a cousin of these in bloom down on the meadows nearer the Laughing Brook. Have you seen it yet?" inquired Little Friend.

Peter was all interest at once. "No," said he, "I haven't. But I'm on my way right now." And off he started, lipperty-lipperty-lip. Sure enough, when he drew near the Laughing Brook he found another Sunflower. He knew it was a Sunflower from its general appearance, although it was much different from the one he had just left. It was only about half as tall and was branched. The leaves were lance-shaped and saw-edged, but not as rough as those of the Giant Sunflower. Peter bit off one and began to chew it. But he didn't chew it long. No, sir, he didn't chew it long. He made a wry face and spat it out. You see it was bitter and not at all to his liking. It left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. There was something familiar about that plant, and presently Peter remembered.

He remembered having found one late in the fall after the leaves had dried, and that he had tramped on some that had fallen to the ground and they had crumpled up into a fine dust, some of which had gotten into his nose and made him sneeze and sneeze until he was afraid he would sneeze his head off. Ever since then he had known this as the Sneezeweed, and that is the name by which a great many people know it. It is also called the Swamp Sunflower and the False Sunflower.

When Peter looked at the flowers he found them quite different from the ones he had been admiring. In the first place the flower heads were not quite so large. They grew in clusters on long, slim stems. The ray florets, which you and I would call petals, were yellow, quite broad, and the tip of each had little cuts or notches in it. Some had three and some had five. These little yellow banners, instead of standing out and up as did those of the Giant Sunflower, drooped downward.

And there was just as great a difference in the centers. Of course these centers were made up of tiny florets, but these were crowded together in little globes or balls, and they were quite brownish. Those globe-like centers and the drooping notched ray florets make it easy to know the Sneezeweed when you find it.

Peter might not like the taste of the leaves, but there was no doubt that the flowers themselves were beloved of the Bees and other insects. Busy Bee the Honey Bee was there, and hardly had she left when Lady Bumblebee arrived. Others of the Bee family paid them a visit, and so did Butterflies and Wasps and Beetles.

What Peter found out about the bitter taste of the leaves many farmers have found out also. You see sometimes cows get some of these leaves in their mouths when they are eating grass, and swallow them. When they do this their milk is almost always sure to be bitter. So farmers do not like the Sneezeweed when it grows where their cows are pastured.