1917] Fernald,— Erechtites in temperate North America 25 
olivaceis glabris vel paulo strigosis 16-20 costatis, plus minusve 
inflatis ad apicem versus annulo albido munitis ex quo basis styli 
persistens protrudit; receptaculo denudato 1-1.2 em. diametro. 
Differing from Æ. hieracifolia in its somewhat fleshy leaves: heads 
ovoid, abruptly acuminate: involucre 1.5-2 cm. high; its bracts 
lanceolate, obtusish, 1-3 mm. broad at the dilated base: corolla of the 
perfect flower with brown lines; the lobes with brown margin and mid- 
nerve; the tube green: achenes 4-5.5 mm. long, brown or olive, 
glabrous or a little strigose, 16-20-ribbed, more or less inflated, toward 
the apex bearing a white annulus (formed by the bases of the pappus- 
bristles) from which protrudes the persistent style-base: denuded 
receptacle 1-1.2 cm. in diameter.— Massacuusetts: upper border 
of sandy sea-beach, Hyannis, Barnstable, October 7, 1916, Fernald, 
Butters & St. John, no. 15,467; upper and middle regions of sandy 
sea-beach, West Yarmouth, Yarmouth, October 8, 1916, Fernald, 
Butters & St. John, no. 15,468 (rype in Gray Herb.) also October 14, 
1916, Fernald & Butters in Plantae Exsiccatae Grayanae. 
In the course of this study it has become apparent that Erechtites 
hieracifolia is a very polymorphous plant and that much tropical 
American material referred to it belongs clearly to some other species. 
In the eastern United States and Canada the plant although appar- 
ently all of one species is very variable, so much so that it is difficult 
to reconcile the ordinary descriptions with many of the specimens. 
Thus we find in standard descriptions that the upper leaves are, as 
described by Gray, “commonly with auriculate partly clasping base’’;! 
or by Small, “sessile and partly clasping.’”2 Yet if we consult 
Rafinesque’s original treatment of Erechtites we shall find that he 
had but one species, the type of the genus, E. pracalta, accurately 
described, as abundant specimens show, “foliis alternis sessilibus basi 
attenuatis,” 3 and said to have “some similarity of habit, &c. with 
Senecio hieracifolius L.” 3 It was not until twenty years later, and 
then by proxy,‘ that Rafinesque admitted the Linnean Senecio hiera- 
cifolius with auriculate-based partly clasping leaves to the genus 
Erechtites. 
That the Linnean Senecio hieracifolius had auriculate-based clasp- 
ing leaves is quite clear from the plate of Hermann’s Senecio Africanus 
[corrected by Linnaeus to americanus] altissimus Blattariae vel Hier- 
acii folio,’ from which Linnaeus derived his specific name; and the 
1 Gray, Syn. FI. i. pt. 2, 396 (1886). 
2 Small, F1. S. E. U. S. 1300 (1903). 
3 Raf. Fl. Ludov, 65 (1817). 
4 E. hieracifolia (L.) Raf. in lit. in DC. Prodr. vi. 294 (1837). 
5 Herm. Par. ed. 2, 226, t. 226 (1705). 
