326 LXXV. COMPOSITiE. Erigeron. 



purplish, channeled, simple, smooth, branching above into a large, level-topped, 

 compomid corymb of showy flowers. Leaves narrow, entire, 4r— 6' in length, 

 those of the branchlets smaller. Rays about 12, white. Disk yellow. Aug. Sept. 

 /?. amygdalinus. St. roughish above, green ; branches of the corymb divaricate ; 

 Ivs. broader. — Gluite different in aspect from variety a. Common. 



3, D. coRNiFOLius. Less. (Aster cornifolius. Muhl.) 



St. smooth below, scabrous and slightly paniculate above, few-flowered ; 

 Ivs. elliptical, acuminate, entire, tapering to the base, with .scattered hairs, 

 rough-edged ; invol. scales imbricate, shorter than the disk. Grows in woods, 

 N. and Mid. States. Whole plant nearly smooth, erect, 1 — 2f high. Leaves 

 acute at the base, paler beneath, on very short stalks. Flowers few, large ; 

 outer scales very short. Rays about 10, white. July, Aug. 



13. ERIGERON. 



Gr. 7]p} the spring, yepcov, an old man ; because it is hoary early in the season. 



Heads many-flowered, subhemispherical ; ray-flowers 9 very nu- 

 merous (40 — 200), narrow, linear ; flowers of the disk $ ; receptacle 

 flat, naked ; involucre nearly in 1 row ; pappus generally simple. — 

 Herbs with alternate leaves. Rays cyanic. 



§ Ra]js longer than the involucre. Mostly %. 



1. E. BELLiDiFOLiuM. Muhl. (E. pulchcllum. Mx.) Robin's Plantain. 

 Hirsute ; radical Ivs. obovate, obtuse, subserrate ; stem Ivs. remote, mostly 



entire, lance-oblong, acute, clasping ; hds. 3 — 7, in a close, terminal corymb ; 

 rays nearly twice longer than tlie involucre, linear-spatulate. — Dry fields and 

 thickets, U. S. and Can. Stem erect, simple, sometimes stoliniferous, ] — 2f 

 high. Leaves 2 — 3' by 6 — 9", mostly broadest above the middle. Rays 60 — 

 100, bluish (rarely reddish)-purple. This is our earliest species, flowering in 

 May and June. Resembles the following. 



2. E. Philadelphicum. (E. purpureum. Ait.) Narrow-rayed Robin's PI. 

 Pubescent or hirsute ; Ivs. thin, lower spatulate, crenate-dentate, upper ob- 



long-oblanceolate, narrowed to the clasping (sometimes cordate-auriculate) 

 base, subserrate; hds. few, on long, slender peduncles; rays very numerous, 

 filiform, more than twice longer than the involucre. — Woods and pastures 

 throughout N. Am. Stem slender, 1 — 3f high. Leaves 2 — 4' by 6 — 9", lower 

 much attenuated at base, upper acute. Rays 150 — ^200 ! reddish-purple or flesh- 

 colored, nearly as slender as hairs. Jn. — Aug. 



/?. % Ricardi. Cauline Ivs. cordate-ovate. Meriden, N. H. Rickard I 



y. St. stout, with coarsely serrate leaves. 



3. E. HETEROPHYLLUM. Muhl. (E. auuuum. Pers.) Comvwn Fleahane. 

 White-weed. — >S'^. hispid with scattered hairs, branching ; Ivs. hirsute, 



coarsely serrate, the lowest ovate, contracted at base into a winged petiole, stem 

 leaves ovate-lanceolate, sessile, acute, the highest lanceolate; rays very numer- 

 ous and narrow. — A common weed, in fields and waste grounds. Can. to Penn, 

 and Ky. Stem thick, 2 — 4f high, striate, terminating in a large, diflTuse, co- 

 rymbose panicle of large heads. Rays white or purplish, 100 or more, short. 

 June. — Aug. 



4. E. sTRiGosuM. Fleabane. JVhite-weed. Daisy. 



Hairy and strigose ; Ivs. lanceolate, tapering to each end, entire or with a 

 few large teeth in the middle, lower ones 3- veined and petiolate ; panicle co- 

 rymbose ; pappus double. — A rough weed in grassy fields. Can. and U. S. Stem 

 about 2f high, slender, furrowed, with close, short, stifl' hairs, and bearing a 

 large, loose corymb. Leaves also with close-pressed bristles, sessile. Rays 

 very narrow, white. June — Oct. 



/?. (E. integerrifolium. Bw.) St. simple, smooth ; Ivs. entire, pubescent ; Jls. 

 ■ corymbed. Rays 100—150. 



§ § Bays shorter than the involucre. Plants ® or (g). 



5. E. DivARicATUM. Michx. 



Decumbent and diff'usely branched, hirsute ; Ivs. linear and subulate ; hds. 



