COMPOSITE FAMILY. 1 ( J1 



21. LIATRIS, BUTTOX-SNAKEROOT or BLAZING-STAR. (An 

 unexplained name.) Chiefly in pine-barrens or sandy soil. Fl. late summer 

 and autumn. 3/ 



1. Stem commonly wand-like and simple, rising from a round conn or short tuhir, 

 rcnj li-qfy with narrow and entire often grass-like leaves : heads spiked or 

 r- -ceiiicd, or occasionally branching into a panicle, uiil/t imbricated involucre: 

 lobes of the rose-purple corolla long and slender. 



* Bristles of the pappus plainly plumose to the naked eye. 

 <- Heads small, only 4 - 5-Jiowered. 



L. tenuif61ia, in S. pine-barrens, has very slender mostly thread-shaped 

 leaves, stem 2 - 4 high, very slender raceme, and scales of involucre erect and 

 pointed. 



L. elegans, from Virginia S. ; 2 high, often hairy or downy, with com- 

 pact spike, short lanceolate or linear leaves, and scales of involucre with spread- 

 ing rose-purple tips. 



-t- -t- Heads large andj'twer, cylindrical, many-flowered. 



L. squarrosa, COMMON BLAZING-STAR ; from Penn. S. & W. ; l-f) 

 high, with linear leaves, few heads about 1' long, and scales of involucre with 

 spreading leaf-like tips. 



L. cylindracea, from W. Canada S. W., smaller than the preceding, 

 6'- 18' high, the narrow heads with short and rounded appressed tips. 



* * Bristles of the pappus not plainly plumose to the naked eye. 

 *- Heads 30-40-Jluwered, commonly an inch broad. 



L. scaribsa, with stout' stein 2 -5 high, lanceolate leaves, or the lower 

 spatulate-oblong, and very numerous scales of the involucre with rounded tips, 

 often scarious or purple on the margins. 



<- H- Heads 3- }5-Jiowered,from J' to ' long: stem 2- 5 high. 



L. pycnostachya, in prairies W., with linear or lance-linear leaves, and 

 a very dense spike ot about 5-flowered heads, the scales of the involucre with 

 recurving purplish tips. 



L. spicata, the commonest species ; in low grounds, with 8-12-flowered 

 heads crowded in a long spike, the oblong and blunt scales of involucre without 

 any obvious tips. 



L. graminifolia, in wet pine-barrens from New Jersey S., has 7-12- 

 ilowt-red heads in a looser spike or raceme, the rigid appressed scales blunt or 

 slightly pointed. 



L. gracilis, from N. Carolina S., with spreading leaves, the lower lance- 

 oblong and long-pcti'iled, the others linear and short, and 3 - 7-flowered small 

 heads on spreading pedicels. 



2. A 7 o tuber or corm : leaves broad : heads small, in a corymb. 



L. odoratissima, VANILLA-I'LANT of low pine-barrens S. (also wrongly 

 called HOUNI'S-TONI;UE) : 2-3 high, very smooth, with pale obovate or ob- 

 long leaves which are vanilla-scented in withering, the heads 7-S-flowered, in- 

 volucre of few scales, and pappus not plumose. 



22. KUHNIA. (Named by Linnaeus for Dr. Kuhn of Pennsylvania.) 



K. eupatorioides, the only species from New Jersey to Wisconsin S., 

 is a rather homely herb, with lanceolate leaves, and panicled or corymbed small 

 heads of flowers, in autumn. ^ 



23. MIKANIA, CLIMBING HEMPWEED. (Named for a Bohemian 



botanist, Prof. Mikan.) 



M. scandens, a rather handsome plant, climbs over bushes in low grounds, 



with triangular-heart-shaped or halberd-shaped leaves, and small heads of pur- 

 plish flowers, in summer, ^f 



