480 COMPOSITE. HiERAc.uM. 



and sbarply toothed, acute; the cauline few and sessile; involucre small, 

 slightly bracteolate, smooth and blackish-green, of few scales in about 2 

 series; pappus gray and scabrous; achenia not attenuate at the summit; 

 flowers white? Nutt. in trans. Amer. phil. soc. {n. ser.) 7. p. 447. 



St. Barbara, California, Nuttall. — This plant is unknown to us; and only 

 a single specimen was collected. 



189. NABALUS. Cass. did. M.p. 94 (1825) ; Hoolc.fl. Bor.-Am. ^.p. 293. 

 Heurpalyce, Don (1829), not of DC. — Species of Prenanthes, Linn. 



Heads several-(5-30-) flowered. Involucre cylindrical, of 5-14 linear 

 scales in a single series, and calyculate with several short accessory scales. 

 Receptable naked. Branches of the style much exserted. Achenia linear- 

 oblong, cylindraceous, striate or grooved, smooth, not contracted at the apex. 

 Pappus of copious straw-color or brownish scabrous capillary bristles, some- 

 what fragile. — Perennial (North American) herbs; the erect leafy stem 

 arising from a fusiform simple or branched tuber, which is extremely bitter 

 to the taste. Leaves entire, or variously lobed. Head racemose or pani- 

 culate, usually nodding. Flowers whhish, ochroleucous, cream-color, or 

 purplish. 



§ 1. Heads pendulous: involucre calyculate, feiv-several-Jlowered, glabrous 

 {rarely jnore or less hairy). {Leaves very variable in the same species.) 



1. N. albus (Hook.) : nearly glabrous, slightly glaucous, stem corymbosely 

 paniculate at the summit (usually purplish); leaves angulate-hastate, irregu- 

 larly toothed, sinuate-incised, or sometimes either palmately or somewhat 

 pinnately 3-5-lobed or parted (the lobes or undivided leaves mostly obtuse, 

 mucronate) ; the lower petioled ; the uppermost usually oblong, subsessile ; 

 heads in short spreading racemes or panicles, somewhat corymbose; invo- 

 lucre (glaucous and usually purplish) of about 8 scales, 8-12-flowered ; pappus 

 deep cinnamon-color. — N. albus & N. serpentarius, Hook. I. c. (in part, and 

 as to syn.) N. suavis, DC! I. c. N. trifoliolatus, Cass, in diet. sci. nat. 

 34. p. 95. Prenanthes alba, Linn.! hort. Cliff, p. 383, Sf spec. I. c. (excl. 

 /?.); Michx.! fl. 2. p. 83; Bot. mag. t. 1079; Pursh, I. c. ; Bigel. fi. Bost. 

 ed. 2. p. 286 (partly) ; Darlingt. fi. Cest. p. 444 (partly). P. suavis, 

 Salisb. parad. Bond. t. 85. P. rubicunda, Willd. ! spec. 3. p. 1537 {ex 

 herb.), excl. syn. P. Miamensis? ovata, & proteophylla, Riddell, I. c. 

 Chondrilla alba. Lam. 



(3. Serpentaria : cauline leaves on slender petioles, deeply sinuate-pinna- 

 tifid or 3-parted, the terminal lobe 3-cleft, often sparsely ciliate with rough 

 hairs. — Prenanthes Serpentaria, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 499, t. 24. Harpalyce Ser- 

 pentaria, Don, in Edinb. netv. j^hil. journ. 6. p. 305; Beck, I. c. 



Open grounds and borders of woods, Newfoundland ! Canada ! and Northern 

 States ! to the Upper Mississippi! and the Mountains of the Southern States! 

 Aug.-Sept. — A stouter plant than N. altissimus ; the stem sometimes spotted- 

 Leaves very variable, pale beneath ; the margins mostly somewhat scabrous 

 and ciliate. Heads half an inch or more in length. Achenia scarcely striate. 

 Corolla white or ochroleucous, sometimes tinged with purple. — White Lettuce. 

 Lion's Foot. Rattlesnake-root. 



2. N. altissimus (Hook.) : glabrous or nearly so ; stem virgate ; leaves 

 (membranaceous) all petioled, either undivided or the lower palmately 3-5- 



