Ironweed

This book is for four good men:

Bill Segarra, Tom Smith,

Harry Staley, and Frank Trippett.

Tall Ironweed is a member of the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae). It has a tall erect stem and bears deep purple-blue flower heads in loose terminal clusters. Its leaves are long and thin and pointed, their lower surfaces downy. Its fruit is seed-like, with a double set of purplish bristles. It flowers from August to October in damp, rich soil from New York south to Georgia, west to Louisiana, north to Missouri, Illinois and Michigan. The name refers to the toughness of the stem.

– Adapted from The Audubon Society’s

Field Guide to North American Wildflowers

To course o’er better waters now hoists sail the little bark of my wit, leaving behind her a sea so cruel.

– Dante, Purgatorio