Genus 23. 



CHICORY FAMILY 



1. Nabalus altissimus (L.) Hook. Tall 

 White Lettuce. Fig. 41 10. 



Prenanthcs altissima L. Sp. PJ. 797. 1753. 



TV. altissimus Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 294. 1833. 



Glabrous, or sometimes hispidulous, not 

 glaucous; stem slender, 3-7 high, green, or 

 sometimes purplish. Leaves thin, hastate, 

 cordate, ovate, or the uppermost lanceolate, 

 entire, denticulate, dentate or palmately lobed 

 or divided, most of them long-petioled, the 

 larger sometimes 6' long ; heads very numer- 

 ous, in a narrow panicle, and often in axillary 

 clusters, 5-7-floweredi pendulous, about 2" 

 broad; inflorescence often narrow; involucre 

 narrowly cylindric, 5"-6" long, about 1" thick, 

 green, glabrous, its principal bracts about 5 ; 

 flowers greenish or yellowish white; pappus 

 light straw-color, or cinnamon-brown. 



In woods and thickets, Newfoundland to Mani- 

 toba, Missouri, Georgia and Louisiana. Lion's- 

 foot. Rattlesnake-root. Ascends to 2500 ft. in 

 the Catskills. Wild lettuce. Joy-leaf. Milk-weed. 

 Bird-bell. Races differ in leaf-form, pubescence 

 and in color of the pappus. July-Oct. 



2. Nabalus albus ( L. ) Hook. Rattlesnake- 

 root. White Lettuce. Fig. 411 1. 



Prenanthes alba L. Sp. PI. 798. 1 

 Nabalus albus Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 



'53- 



1 : 294. 



1833- 



Glabrous and glaucous ; stem commonly purple, 

 2-5 high. Leaves hastate, ovate, cordate, den- 

 ticulate, dentate, lobed, or palmately divided, or 

 the upper lanceolate, entire, thicker than those of 

 the preceding species, the larger sometimes 8' 

 long; heads numerous, pendulous, 8-15-flowered, 

 about 3" broad, paniculate, or thyrsoid, and often 

 in axillary clusters; involucre glabrous, or with a 

 few scattered hairs, glaucous, 5"-/' high, about 

 l' thick, its principal bracts about 8, purplish, 

 with minute outer ones ; flowers greenish or yel- 

 lowish white, fragrant ; pappus cinnamon-brown. 



In woods, Maine and Ontario to Manitoba, Sas- 

 katchewan, Georgia, Kentucky, Wisconsin and North 

 Dakota. Lion's-foot. White cankerweed. Wild lettuce. 

 Milk-weed. Joy-leaf. Cancer-weed. Aug.-Sept. 



3. Nabalus serpentarius (Pursh) FTook. 

 Lion's-foot. Gall-of-the-Earth. Fig. 41 12. 



Prenanthes serpentaria Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 499. pi. 



24. 1814. 

 Nabalus integrifolius Cass. Diet. Sci. Nat. 34 : 95. 1825. 

 Nabalus serpentarius Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 294. 1833. 



Glabrous or sparingly pubescent, green; stem 

 stout or slender, not glaucous, i-4 high. Leaves 

 rather firm, similar to those of the preceding 

 species, equally variable in outline, pinnatifid or 

 pinnately lobed. palmately divided, or merely 

 dentate, or entire; inflorescence paniculate, the 

 branches divaricate, upcurved; heads numerous, 

 about 3" broad, 8-12-flowered, pendulous, panicu- 

 late, and commonly also in axillary clusters; in- 

 volucre more or less bristly-hispid, rarely gla- 

 brous, green or purplish, about ii" thick, 5-7" 

 long, its principal bracts about 8, shorter than the 

 pappus, with several minute lanceolate outer ones ; 

 flowers whitish or cream-color, rarely yellow; 

 achenes about 3" long ; pappus light brown or straw-color. 



