146 SPICILEGIA GORGONEA. 
to be the plant described by Cassini as his Rhabdotheca 
sonchoides. He was led astray probably by the article itself 
of the Dict., in which the genus Rhabdotheca is described; 
where the author says that the plant on which it is founded 
was ticketed S. divaricatus in the herbarium of M. Gay. 
By an inspection, however, of the plant itself, I find it to 
be the Sonchus chondrilloides, Desf. (Zollikoferia chondril- . 
loides of DC.), and it is the type of his genus Zollikeferia, 
as well as of the more ancient genus Rhabdotheca, Cast 
This latter name must therefore prevail. Under this genus 
I consider that our present plants ought to be placed. It is 
distinguished from Sonchus, by its aspect approaching more 
to that of the Lactucee than the Sonchee, by its capitulum 
not swelled at the base, by the scales of the involucrum being 
usually bordered by a wide scarious margin, the outer ones 
remarkably shorter, and by its tetragonal or rarely sub-b- 
gonal, sharp or rounded, not compressed achenia, rarely 
though sometimes attenuated towards the summit or base; 
and more or less papillated or scabrous. The following are the 
species which compose the genus Rhabdotheca thus considered. 
R. chondrilloides,—R. sonchoides, Cass., Zollikoferia chon" 
drilloides, DC., and probably likewise his second species 
Rhabdotheca (Zollikoferia) pumila. 
R. divaricata,—Sonchus divaricatus, Desf. Ann. Mus. ?. 
p. 212. t. 46. M. nudicaulis, Webb, It. Hisp. excl. syn- 20” 
Less. Microrhynchus nudicaulis, B divaricatus, DC. 
R. asplenifolia |— Prenanthes asplenifolia, Willd. Micror- 
hynchus asplenifolius, DC. ; 
To these I add two new species and the Sonchus spinosus 
DC., which cannot remain with the section Atalanthus 
Sonchus where De Candolle has placed it, with which it has 
so little affinity. Its capitulum, achenia, and general aspects 
approach much more closely those of our present groups 
though its admission renders the genus less uniform. 
138. Rhabdotheca picridioides, Webb; caule basi suffru- 
tescente foliorum cicatricibus superne annulato apice SU 
rosulato-folioso, foliis oblongis in petiolum basi dilatatum 
