58 COMPOSITE. Vernonja. 



"Wet places nearly throughout the United States, especially near the coast 

 and along rivers. July-Aiig. — 2i Stem 3-6 feet high. Scales of the invo- 

 lucre brownish-purple, mostly ciliale with cobweb-like hairs. Corolla deep 

 purple, rarely pale or pink-color. — Iron-weed. 



3. V. Baldwinii (Torr.) : stem and lanceolate serrulate leaves tomentose- 

 pubescent; cyme fastigiate, somewhat crowded; heads 20-30-flowered ; 

 involucre subglobose, tomentose and glandular, shorter than the mature pap- 

 pus, squarrose with the very short recurved acuminate tips of the appressed 

 scales; achenia (immature) puberulent and glandular, shorter than the pap- 

 pus. — Torr.! in ann. lye. Neiv York, 2. p. 211. V. sphaeroidea, Nutt. ! in 

 trans. Amer. phil. soc. (n. ser.) 7. p. 284. (ined.) 



On the Missouri, Baldwin! Arkansas, Nuttall! — H Plant in some re- 

 spects intermediate between V. Noveboracensis and V. fasciculata, but pro- 

 bably distinct from both ; the heads mostly smaller than in the former. 



4. V. fasciculata {MXchy;..) : stem striate or grooved ; leaves narrowly lan- 

 ceolate, tapering and acute at each end, serrulate, sometimes puncticulate be- 

 neath, often somewhat petioled ; cyme fastigiate ; the heads numerous, approx- 

 imate or crowded, 15— 30-flowered ; invoUicre hemispherical-campanulate, 

 much shorter than the pappus; the scales all closel}' appressed, ciliate; the 

 outermost much shorter, acute or mucronulate ; the others obtuse, not mucro- 

 nate; achenia glabrous when mature, and almost the length of the pappus. — 

 Michx. ! fi. 2. J). 94. (not of DC.) V. altissima. Less, in Linnfea, 6. p. 

 639. V. prsealta, DC. ! I. c. (chiefly, excl. syn. Dill. Elth. ?) ; not of Linn. ! 

 Chrysocoma gigantea, Walt. 1 V. corymbosa, Schiveinitz. ! in Long^s 

 2nd exjjed. 



(8. stem and lower surface of the leaves puberulent or alinost tomentose ; 

 heads rather large ; the scales of the involucre mostly very obtuse. 



y. stem and lower surface of the leaves often puberulent; heads small; 

 scales of the involucre sometimes rather acute or mucronulate. — V. altis- 

 sima, Nutt.! gen. 2. p. 134 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 289. 



6. nearly glabrous ; heads rather small ; the scales greenish ; flowers 

 nearly white. 



Prairies and moist woods, throughout the Western States ! and not unfre- 

 quent, particularly var. >■., in the South^n-n States ! /3. Illinois, Dr. Short! 

 6. Kentucky, Dr. Short! July-Aug.— 21 Stem tall (6-12 feet, Nutt.) and 

 stout. Cyme usually dense and fastigiate, or sometimes loose and spreading. 

 Flowers (except in var. 6.) bright purple. Pappus either pale or purple. — 

 This species varies greatly in the size of its heads, and in the cymes : it is 

 distinguished by its closely appressed and inappendiculate (usually rounded) 

 involucral scales; the tips of which are mostly ]iurple. The leaves, in one 

 of the forms with small loosely disposed heads, are often ratlier broadly lan- 

 ceolate, and 6 to 8 inches long. 



6. V. Jamesii: stem nearly glabrous, striate, corymbose at the summit; 

 leaves (upperones) narrowly lanceolate, elongated, sessile, glabrous, 1-nerved, 

 entire, both sides puncticulate; cyme corymbosc-fastigiate ; heads (about 40) 

 15-20-flowered, rather large ; involucre oblong-campanulate or turbinate, 

 acute at the base, shorter than the pappus ; the scales all appressed, lanceo- 

 late-ovate, acuminate or somewhat mucronate, ciliate ; achenia glabrous, 

 shorter than the pappus ; the exterior chaffy pappus very indistinct. — V. al- 

 tissima? /3. marginala, Torr. ! in ann. lye. NeivYork, 2. p. 210. 



On the Arkansas? Dr. James! — The specimen is imperfect, consisting 

 only of a branch or the summit of a stem ; but it is abundantl}' different from 

 any other N. American species. The heads are half an inch in length, more 

 elongated than usual ; the scales bordered with an arachnoid web, as in many 

 other species, and greenish, with reddish tips. The corymbose branches 

 of the inflorescence bear 3 to 7 heads, which are mostly on slender pedicels. 



