Dahlia. LXXV. COMPOSITE. 327 



very small, loosely corymbose ; rays minute. — Dry soil, Western States ! S. to 

 La. Plant of a greyish or bluish aspect, 3—6' high, but at length spreading 

 1— 2f. Leaves 4—12" by ^—1". Rays purplish. June— Aug. 



6. E. Canadense. Canadian or Common Fleahane. 



Invol. oblong ; rays numerous, (40—50), crowded, minute ; papjms simple ; 

 St. hairy, paniculate ; Zt;5. lanceolate, lower ones subserrate. — A very common an- 

 nual plant of no beauty, growing by roadsides and in fields, throughout N. Am. 



Stem i 9f ! high, branching, hairy and farrowed. Leaves very narrow, with 



rough edges. Flowers white, very numerous, small, of mean appearance, ir- 

 regularly racemose upon the branches, and constituting a large, oblong panicle. 

 The plant varies greatly in size, according to the soil. Aug. — Nov. 

 14. CALLISTEPHUS. Cass. 

 Gr. KaXXos, beautiful, aT£(^oj, a crown; characteristic of the pappus. 



Kay-flowers 9, numerous; disk-flowers 5; involucre hemispheri- 

 cal ; receptacle subconvex ; pappus double, each in 1 series, outer 

 series short, chaffy-setaceous, with the setae united into a crown ; in- 

 ner series of long, filiform, scabrous, deciduous setae. — ® Exotics. 

 Lvs. alternate. 



C. Chinensis. Ness. (Aster Chinensis. Linn.) China Aster.— St. hispid; 

 branches divergent, 1-flowered ; lvs. ovate, coarsely dentate, petiolate, cauline 

 ones sessile, cuneate at base.— Said to be originally from China. Stem about 

 18' high, with long branches, each terminated by a single, large head. Rays 

 dark purple. Disk vellow. July— Sept.— Cultivation has produced many beau- 

 tiful and even splendid varieties, double and semi-double, with white, blue, red, 

 flaked and mottled rays, -f 



15. BELLIS. 

 Lat. bellus, pretty ; a term quite appropriate to the genus. 



Heads many-flowered ; rays 9 ; disk ? ; involucre hemispherical, 

 of equal scales; receptacle subalveolate, conical; pappus 0. — Loio 

 kerbs, either ® and caulescent or % and acaulescent. Hds. solitary. 



B. perennis. Garden Daisy.— Root creeping ; scape naked, single-flowered ; 

 lis. obovate, crenate.— 'Ij. Native of England and other parts of Europe, nearly 

 naturalized in some parts of N. England in cultivated grounds. Scape 3 or 4' 

 high, with a single white flower which is single, double or quilled in the differ- 

 ent varieties. Blossoms in the spring and summer months. 



IG. DAHLIA. 



In honor of Andrew Dalil, a Swedish botanist, pupil of Linnaeus. 



Involucre double, the outer series of many distinct scales, the inner 

 of 8 scales united at base ; receptacle chafiy ; pappus 0. — %■ Splendid 

 Mexican herbs. Lvs. jjinnatc.^ opposite. 



1. D. variabilis. Desf (D. superflua. Ail.)— St. green; rachis oj the lvs. 

 winged; Ifts. ovate, acuminate, .serrate, pubernlent or nearly smooth; outer 

 77iro/. reflexed ; ray fis. 9, sterile or fertile. — These superb and fashionable 

 plants are natives'of sandy meadows in Mexico. They have coarse andrough- 

 ish leaves, resembling those of the common elder, but the flowers are large and 

 beautiful, sporting into innumerable varieties, single and double, of every con- 

 ceivable shade of .scarlet, crimson, purple, red, rarely yellow, blooming from 

 July until arrested by frost. 



2. D. coccinea. Cav. (D. frustranea. Ait.)— St. frosty, or hoary, hollow; 

 lvs. with the rachis naked; //"/.<. roughish beneath; outer invol. spreading; rays 

 neuter.— Stems about 4f high. Foliage rather glaucous. Rays scarlet, saffron- 

 coior or yellow, never purple or white.— The Dahlias are generally cultivated 

 by the divisions of the tuberous roots, which, as soon as the frost blackens the 

 tops, are to be taken up and preserved through the winter in a dry place, free 

 from frost. 



28* 



