Berlandfkra. COMPOSITiE. 281 



Corolla of the ray with an oblong subsessile spreadmg ligule ; of the disk 

 cylindraceous, 5-toothed ; the teeth hairy externally. Style in the sterile 

 flowers undivided, elongated and hispid above. Achenia of the ray in a sin- 

 gle series, flat, obcompressed, obovate, Avingless, not toothed or notclied at the 

 summit, one-nerved on the outer, one-ridged and canescently pubescent on 

 the inner surface, each more or less strongly coherent with the flat involucral 

 scale to which it corresponds and falling away with it, partly covered by the 

 chaff of the two attached sterile flowers ; the pappus of 2 minute and caducous 

 setose teeth or short awns : the abortive achenia of the disk linear or filiform, 

 with an obscure coroniform pappus. — Perennial canescent or velvety-tomen- 

 tose herbs or sufTrutescent plants (natives of the Southern United States, 

 Texas, and Northern Mexico), not resiniferous ; with mostly solitary (middle- 

 sized) pedunculate heads terminating the terete stem or paniculate-corym- 

 bose branches; the involucre and summit of the chafT usually canescently 

 pubescent. Leaves alternate, cordate, ovate or oblong, and crenate, sinuate, 

 or pinnatifid, thin, veiny. Rays yellow, pubescent externally. Corolla 

 of the disk and anthers sprinkled with reddish resinous globules. 



This genus, although well-marked inhabit, is mainly distinguished from Silphium 

 by its single series of wingless achenia, adherent to the large interior involucral 

 scales; and, including as it does all the toraentose and canescent species of Silphium, 

 it leaves that genus better defined in habit and character. It is singular tliat DeCan- 

 dolle, who founded the genus upon a Texan plant, and mentions its affinity on the 

 one hand to Melampodium, and on the other to Polymnia, should not have remarked 

 its closer alliance with Clnysogonum and especially with Silpliium (from which the 

 receptacle scarcely differs), nor have noticed the adhesion of the achenia to the 

 scales ; a character first pointed out by Mr. Bentham, in his B. lyrata of Mexico, 

 but which occurs in all the species. As we find a corolla, stamens, &c. in all the 

 disk-flowers, we suspect that DeCandolle may have mistaken for abortive flowers 

 some of the central abortive ovaries, from which the corolla falls at an early period. 

 — Since our account of this genus was prepared, Mr. Nuttall, who had established a 

 new genus upon these plants, adopted at our suggestion the name of Berlaudiera, 

 but with the appended sectional appellation of iSilphiastrum. His B. longifolia, 

 however, is doubtless the original B. Texana. 



1. B. Texana (DC. ! 1. c.) : herbaceous (suffrutescent DC.) ; branches and 

 peduncles hirsute with jointed often purplish hairs ; leaves oblong-ovate, cor- 

 date, simply or doubly crenate, minutely hispid-scabrous above, canescently 

 pubescent or hairy beneath ; the lowermost petioled ; the others closely ses- 

 sile; heads somewhat corymbose. — B. longifolia, Nutt. .' in trans. Amcr. 

 phil. soc. I. c. p. 342. 



fS. brtonicfpfolia : leaves all petioled, cordate-ovate, deeply and coarsely 

 crenate ; peduncles clothed with jointed purplish hairs. — Silphium belonici- 

 folium. Hook. ! com2)an. to hot. ma,s'. 1. p. 99. 



In woods, Texas, Berlandier ! Western Louisiana, Dr. Hale! Western 

 Arkansas, Nuttall ! /3. New Orleans ? Drummond. — Most of the specimens 

 from Dr. Hale (which do not appear sutiiuiieose) have the peduncles and 

 upper part of the stem clothed with purplish hairs (colored by the deposition 

 of a resinous matter), just as Hooker describes his Silphium betoniciiblium; 

 but the upper leaves are all sessile, as in De Candolle's i)lant, inclining to 

 lanceolate-ovate, an inch or an inch and a half in length ; the uppermost 

 often acute : but those at the base of the stem are about 4 inches long, obtuse, 

 in form very like those of a Betonica, doubly and incisely crenate, on petioles 

 about an inch long. 



VOL. II. — 36 



