Senecio. LXXV. COMPOSlTiE. 347 



47. VERBESlNA. 

 Heads few or many-flowered ; rays 9, few or ; disk 9; scales in 

 2 or more series, imbricated, erect ; chaff concave or embracing the 

 flowers ; achenia eoniprussed hiterally, 2-awned. — % Aimricaa plants^ 

 sojnrlimcs s/irul)/)>/. l,rs. dftcn. dvcurreiit^ serrate or lobcd. lids, solitary 

 or corymbose. 



1. V. SiKGKscKCKiA. Mlchx. (Coreopsis alata. Ph. Actinomeris alata. 



Nutl,^ — SI. 4-wingod ; lis. opposite, ovate or lance-ovate, serrate, acumi- 

 nate, tripli-veined, taperini,' to a winj^ed petiole; luh. radiate, in trichotomous 

 cymes; rai/s 1—5 ; ach. wingless.— Roadsides and dry fields. Western and South- 

 ern States," common. Stem 4 — 6f high. Leaves 5 — 8' by 3 — 4', thin. Heads 

 about 25-flowered, wilh )'ellow corollas and yellow, lanceolate rays, the latter 

 about I' long. Aug. Sept. 



2. V. ViRGiNiCA. Viraivian Crown-beard. 



St. narrowly winged, pubescent above; Ivs. alternate, lanceolate or lance- 

 ovate, subserrate, scabrous, acute or acuminate, tapering to the sessile base; 

 lower ones dccurrcnt; corymbs compound, dense; raijs (oval) and disk fis. white; 

 ach. winged. — Dry woods, Penn. to La. Stem (3 — 5f high) and leaves beneath 

 often more or less tomentose. Heads about 20-flowered, the 3 or 4 rays scarce- 

 ly i' long. Aug. Scjit. 



48. DYSODIA. Cav. 

 Heads many-fiowered ; rays 9 ; disk cf ; involucre of a single series 

 of partially united scales, usually calyculate ; achenia elongated, 4- 

 augled, compressed ; pappus scales chaffy, in one series, fimbriately 

 and palmately cleft into bristles. — ® Lvs. mostly opposite andpinnate- 

 ly parted or toothed. lids, paniculate or corymbose. Fls. yellow. 



D. cHRYSANTHEMoiDEs. Lagasca. (Tagetes papposa. Vent. Bocbera chr. 

 Wltld.) — SI. glabrous, much branched ; ivs. pinnately parted, lobes linear, 

 toothed; hds. terminal ; scales campauulate, united at base ; bracts at base 7 — 9, 

 linear; pappus bristles slender, as long as the involucre. — Prairies, &c.. 111., Mo. 

 to La. An ill-scented plant, above If high, resembling a Tagetes. Flowers 

 bright yellow. 



49. SENECIO. 



Lat. sencv, an old man ; the word is synonymous with Erigeron. 



Involucre of many equal leaflets or invested with scales at base, 

 the scales withered at the points ; receptacle not chaffy ; pappus 

 simple, capillary and copious. — A vast ge7ius, embracing 600 species of 

 herbs and shrubs. Lvs. alternate. Fls. mostly yellow^ exceeding the 

 involucre. 



* Heads discoid. 



1. S. VULGARIS. Common Groundsel. 



St. paniculate, erect, angular ; lvs. sinuate-pinnatifid, dentate, amplexi- 

 caul. — A common weed growing about houses, in waste grounds, rubbish, &c. 

 Introduced from Europe. Stem 18' high, leafy, branching, generally smooth. 

 Leaves alternate, thin, bright green, the radical ones stalked. Flowers without 

 ra3^s, terminal, scattered, yellow, appearing all summer. ^ 



* Heads radiate. 



2. S. AUREUS, Golden Senecio. 



Radical lvs. ovate, cordate, crenate-serrate, petiolate, cauline ones pinnati- 

 fid, dentate, terminal segments lanceolate ; ^er/.subumbeliate, thick; rays 8 — 12. 

 — % A handsome and very variable plant, in meadows, woods, &c. (U. S. and 

 Brit. Am.) with golden-yellow flowers. Stem smoothish, striate, erect, 1 — 2f 

 high, simple or branched" above, terminating in a kind of umbellate, simple or 

 compound corvinb. Lower stem leaves lyrate, upper ones few and slender, 

 80 



