362 LXXV. COMPOSITiE. Taraxacum. 



reduced to the minute, subulate bracts ; Ms. clustered, in a long, compoiHid, 

 virgate, somewhat secund raceme; invol. with about 8 scales and 10 flowers; 

 «fip;w4- ' straw-colored. — A remarkably slender, wand-like species, in sandy 

 soils, N. J. to Flor. Stem 2 — 4f high, racemose haliiis length. Leaves gradu- 

 ally reduced and simplified from the base upward, as in most of the species. 

 Sept. Oct. 



^ ij Heads nodding or ered^ hairy. Leaves undivided. 



7. N. RACEMosus. Hook. (Prenanthps. Mx. Harpalyce. Don.) 

 Glabrous, simple, slender ; Ics. all undivided, lower oval-lanceolate, sharp- 

 ly denticulate, petiolate, upper ovate-lanceolate, subclasping, entire; hds. in 

 nodding fascicles, arranged in a long, interruptedly spicate panicle ; invol. of 

 8 — 9 scales, with 9 — 12 flowers; pappus straw-color. — N. J., N. W. States and 

 Can. Stem 2 — 4f high. Flowers pale red-purple. 



8. T. & G. Lvs. deeply and irregularly pinnatifid. 



8. N. cREPiDiNEUs. DC. (Prenanthes crepidinea. Michx.) 



Nearly glabrous ; st. tall, stout, cor3'mbosely paniculate ; ivs. large, irreg- 

 ularly toothed, petioles winged, lower ones oblong-ovate, somewhat hastate or 

 deltoid, upper oblong-lanceolate ; hds. nodding, in small pedunculate and pani- 

 cled clusters ; invol. hairy, of 11 — 14 scales, with 25 — 35 flowers ; pappus tawny. 

 — Fields and thickets, Western States ! One of the largest species. Stem 5 — 8f 

 high. Leaves 4 — 12' by 2i — 7', obtuse or acute. Heads large but not nume- 

 rous, with brown scales and yellowish flowers. Aug. — Oct. 



9. N. ASPER. T. & G. (N. Illinoensis. DC. Prenanthes asper. Michx. 



Choudrilla 111. Poir.) — St. strict, simple, scabrous; Ivs. simple, scabrous- 

 pubescent, dentate, lower ones oblong-oval, on margined petioles, upper lance- 

 oblong and lance-linear, subentire, sesiile; hds. erect, in small fascicles, in a 

 slender, elongated, compound raceme; invol. strongly hirsute, of 7 — 10 scales 

 and with 11 — 14 flowers; pappus straw-color. — Dry prairies and barrens, West- 

 ern States, Dr. Skinner', common! Stem 2 — 4f high, nearly smooth. Leaves 

 3--5' long, pubescent or glabrous. Raceme 1 — 2flong. Fls. ochroleucous. Sept. 



81. TROXIMON. Kutt. 



Gr. Tpo^tjioi, eatable ; applied to this genua with little propricts'. 



Heads many-flowered ; involucre campanulate, scales loosely imbri- 

 cate, lance-ovate, membranaceous, in 2 — 3 rows ; achenia obloug- 

 linear, compressed, glabrous, not ro.strato ; pappus setaceous, copious, 

 white. — % Lvs. all radical. Scajje bearing a single., lC'>'gs, showy head 

 with yellow Jlowers. 



T. cuspiDATUM. Ph. (T. marginatum. Nutt.) 



Rt. fusiform; lvs. linear-lanceolale, acuminate, margins tomentose, often 

 imdulate ; scales acuminate-cuspidate, erect, smooth, in 2 series, the outer nearly 

 equal to the inner. — Prairies, Wis., Lapham, 111., Mead, W. to the Rocky Mts., 

 NuttcUl. Apr. — Jn. 



82. TARAXACUM. Desf. 



Gt. TapaKTiKOi, cathailic; on account of its once celebrated mtdicinal properties. 



Involucre double, the outer of small scales much shorter than the 

 inner, appressed row ; receptacle naked ; achenia produced into a 

 long beak crowned with the copious, white, capillary pappus. — Acau- 

 lescent herbs., with runcinate leaves. 



.^y T. Dens-leonis. Less. (Leontodon Taraxacum. Linn.) Dandelion. 



. \ Outer scales of the involucre reflexed ; lvs. runcinate, smooth, dentate. — 

 % In all open situations, blossoming at all seasons except winter. Leaves all 

 radical, and examples of tliat peculiar form termed runcinate, that is, re-unci- 

 nate, the teeth or claws inclining backwards towards the base of the leaf rather 

 than the summit. Scape hollow, round, bearing a single yellow head. After 

 tha flower is closed and decaved, the scape rises higher and bears a head of 



