Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Compass-plant (Silphium laciniatum)
Look at this vigorous plant that lifts its head from the meadow, See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the magnet; This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has planted Here in the houseless wild, to direct the travellers journey. Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert, Such in the soul of man is faith. LongfellowEvangeline. Pt. II. St. 4. L. 140.