300 COMPOSITiE. Wtethia. 



feet high, usually naked at the summit. Radical leaves a foot or more in 

 lenfTth, 1 to 2h inches wide. — In Mr. Nuttall's specimens, we ohserve traces 

 of the clammy varnish which is so apparent on the leaves of the var. /3. 



* * Scales of the involua-e fewer, subspahdate-oblo7ig : stem sometimes hrancliing: rays 

 seldom 12. 



3. W. angustifolia (Nutt.) : stem hirsute or pubescent above ; leaves spat- 

 ulate-lanceolate,' or the lower and radical spatulale-oblong, entire, nearly 

 glabrous when old, attenuate at the base ; the lowest pelioled ;_ scales of the 

 involucre foliaceous, hirsute, especially on the margins ; achenium hairy to- 

 wards the truncate or obscurely coroniform summit, 1-2-awned, and often 

 with a short sharp tooth from one or more of the remaining angles.— Nm^<. / 

 I. c. Alarconia angustifolia, DC. ! L c. Helianthus longifolius. Hook. Sf 

 Am.! hot. BcecJtey,]). 149. 



California, Beechey ! Doudas .' Nuttall .'—Stem varying from 8 to 20 

 inches in height, with a very large head, terminating the stem or branches. 

 Lower leaves sometimes more than an inch broad, wider indeed in propor- 

 tion to their length than in the preceding, often obtuse. Scales of the involu- 

 cre an inch lone, and a third of an inch broad.— We are uncertain whether 

 the Alarconia helenioides of De Candolle is founded upon an awnless state 

 of this, or the preceding species. 



4. W. amjylexicaulis (Nutt.) : smooth and glabrous throughout, somewhat 

 shinina or glutinous; leaves lanceolate-elliptical, rather coriaceous, venose ; 

 the radical on short petioles, sometimes serrulate ; the lower cauline nar- 

 rowed at the base, nearly sessile ; the upper partly clasping ; heads solitary, 

 or often two or more from the axils of the upper leaves, on short peduncles; 

 scales of the involucre lanceolate-ovate or oblong, appressed, glabrous ; pap- 

 pus unequally 3-8-toothetl, one or two of the teeth often prolonged into 

 awns. — Nutt.! I.e. Espeletia amplexicaulis, Nutt.! in jour. acad. Philad. 

 l.p. 38. 



In the Rocky Mountains, on Flat-Head River &c., Mr. Wyeth! Nuttall! 

 June.— Root large and thick, used for food by the Indians. Stem 8 inches 

 to 2 feet high. Lower leaves 6-12 inches long, 1-2 wide, often obtuse and 

 somewhat obovate. Heads smaller than in the preceding ; the broad scales 

 of the involucre few, barely in a double series. 



86. BALSAMORHIZA. HooJi:. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 310 ; (under Heliop- 

 sis) ; Nutt. in trans. Amcr.jMl. soc. (n. ser.) l.p. 349 



Heads many-flowered ; the ray-flowers pistillate, in a single series ; those 

 of the disk tubular, perfect. Scales of the involucre imbricated in 2 to 3 or 

 more series ; the exterior foliaceous, as long as the disk ; the innermost chaf- 

 fy. Receptacle nearly flat; the chaff linear-lanceolate, acute, somewhat 

 foliaceous, scarcely embracing the flowers. Corolla of the disk cylindrical, 

 elongated, with a short proper tube, 5-toothed ; the teeth sparingly bearded 

 externally. Branches of the style in the disk-flowers filiform, very hispid 

 throughout. Achenia quadrangular, or those of the ray compressed, glabrous, 

 entirely destitute of pappus.— Low pubescent or canescent herbs (natives of 

 the plains of Oregon and the Rocky Mountains) ; whh a thick fusiform dark- 

 colored root, abounding in a terebinthine juice, and chiefly radical leaves ; the 

 simple stems or scapes bearing usually solitary large heads, which resemble 

 those of Helianthus. Ray and disk yellow. 



