363 LXXV. COMPOSITE. Taraxacum. 



reduced to the minute, subulate bracts ; hds. clustered, in a long, compound, 

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

 'pappus straw-colored.— A remarkably slender, wand-like species, in sandy 

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

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

 Sept. Oct. 



^ § Heads nodding or erect^ hairy. Leaves undivided. 



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

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

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



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



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



Nearly glabrous; st. tall, stout, corymbosely paniculate; lvs. 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 2^ — 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; lvs. simple, scabrous- 

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

 oblong and lance-linear, subentire, sessile ; 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 — 2f long. Fls. ochroleucous. Sept. 



81. TROXlMON. Nutt. 



Gr. rpo^inos, eatable ; applied to tliis genus with little propriety. 



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

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

 linear, compressed, glabrous, not rostrate ; pappus setaceous, copious, 

 white. — % Lvs. all radical Scape bearing a single, large, showy head 

 with yellow flowers. 



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



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

 undulate ; 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., 

 Nuttall. Apr.— Jn. 



82. TARAXACUM. Desf. 

 Gr. rapaKTiKos, cathartic; on account of its once celebrated medicinal 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, icith runcinate leaves. 



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

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

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

 radical, and examples of that 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 

 the flower is closed and decayed, the seape rises higher and bears a head of 



