70 COMPOSITE. LiATRis. 



with the leaves and involucral scales narrower, nearly like one of the forms 

 from Texas. 



5. L. mucronala (DC.) : glabrous ; stem slenrler, very leafy ; leaves nar- 

 rowly linear, very acute, minutely punctate; the lowermost elongated, the 

 uppermost short, almost setaceous or subulate; spike long and narrow, 

 dense; the heads (small) sessile, or on appressed pedicels shorter than the 

 subulate bracts, 3-5-flowered ; scales of the narrow and somewhat cylindri- 

 cal involucre few, (purplish, the margins not scarious,) appressed, shorter 

 than the pappus, ovate-lanceolate, mucronate, slightly ciliate ; the exterior 

 shorter; paf)pus manifestly plumose. — DC. jn-odr. 5. p. 129. 



Texas, "in tlie eastern districts, Berlandier,'" Drummond ! Western 

 Louisiana, Dr. Hale ! — Stem 2-4 feet high, virgate ; the slender spike 

 sometimes 2 feet long. Lower leaves about 2 lines wide ; the upper crowded, 

 2-3 inches, and gradually diminishing to less than an inch in length, and 

 less tlian half a line in width, flat. Heads 4-5 lines long; the lowermost 

 shorter, the uppermost much longer than the bracts. Corolla bright purple. 

 Pappus longer than the achenium, of about 30 often purplish bristles, mani- 

 festly plumose to the naked eye, but less so than in L. punctata. — Varies 

 with the achenia minutely pubescent throughout, or on the ribs alone, or per- 

 fectly glabrous; and with the scales of the involucre either abruptly cuspi- 

 date-mucronate, or gradually narrowed into a subulate-mucronate point; the 

 latter being more common in the specimens we have examined. The plant 

 of DeCandoUe (which we have not compared with our own) is said to have 

 pubescent achenia, and the obtuse scales abruptly mucronate : it may be 

 ditferent from the plant we have described, and possibly what we consider a 

 narrow-leaved variety of L. jiunttata ; but that species would not be com- 

 pared with L. tenuifolia, and besides is well characterized by De Candolle, 

 under the name of L. resinosa. 



6. L. Boyhinii: nearly glabrous; stem slender, erect; leaves linear, 

 punctate ; the lower elongated, the upper short and setaceous ; spike virgate; 

 the heads rather crowded, subsessile, or on appressed pedicels much shorter 

 than the subulate bracts, 3-4-flowered ; scales of the involucre (about 8) gla- 

 brous, scarcely punctate ; the outer ones short, lanceolate-subulate ; the in- 

 terior lanceolate or linear, with scarious margins and acuminate spreading 

 summits, e(ju ailing or exceeding the pappus ; achenia villous ; pappus man- 

 ifestly plumose. 



Near Columbus, Georgia, Dr. Boyl'in .' Aug.-Sept. — Stem 1-2 feet high. 

 Leaves rather scattered. Spike 6-10 inches fong. Heads half an inch in 

 length, exceeding the bracts, on very short pedicels if any. Inner scales of 

 theinvolucre membranaceous, with scarious and slightly colored margins and 

 tips. Flowers ap[)arently pale purple. Pappus plumose to the same 

 decree as the preceding, more so than any of the following species. Heads 

 larger than L. mucronata, or especially L. tenuifolia, rather smaller than 

 those of L. secunda. 



7. L. tenuifolia (Nutt.): glabrous; stem very slender; radical and lower 

 leaves crowded, very narrowly linear or almost filiform, elongated, often 

 hairy towards the base, punctate ; the upper ones very short, setaceous, 

 scattered ; raceme virgate; heads (small) 5-flowered, crowded ; the pedicels 

 mostly bracteolate and longer than the setaceous bracts, sometimes branch- 

 ing ; scales of the involucre (about 10) erect, glabrous, not punctate, usually 

 mucronulate; the outermost ovate-lanceolate, very short; the inner oblong, 

 obtuse, with membranaceous (purplish) margins, rather shorter than the pap- 

 pus ; achenia villous; pappus barbellate-plumose. — Nutt..' gen. 2. p. 131; 

 Ell. ! sic. 2. p. 275 ; DC. jrrodr. b. p. 128. 



/?. radical leaves broader, coriaceous. — L. laevigata, Nutt! in trans. Amer. 

 phil. soc. {n. ser.) 7. p. 285. 



