COMl'OSITyE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 227 



— Perennial or biennial iierhs, witli alternate simple or lobeil leaves, and showy 

 heads terniinatiiij^ tlic stem or brunches. Kays yellow or party-eolored. Disk 

 dark purple or yellowish. 



* Disk orate or glohoxe. 

 -t- reaves undivided : stem simple or sparinglij branched. 



1. R. llirta, L. Hirsute; stem and branehes naked at the summit ; leaves 

 3-ribIiecl, lanei'ulatc or oblong, serrate, the upper ones sessile, the lowest nar- 

 rowed into a petiole ; disk roundish, purplisli brown ; ciiaff of the receptacle 

 a -lite, hairy at the apex ; appendages of the style subulate. — Dry soil, Florida 

 to Mississippi, and northward. July and August. — Stem rigid, l°-2°high. 

 Il:iys longer or shorter than the involucre. 



2. R. fulgida, Ait. Hairy ; stem simple or sparingly branched, naked at 

 the summit; leaves 3-ribbed, mostly serrate; the lowest oval or oblong, on slen- 

 der petioles ; the upper ones spatulate-oblong or lanceolate, slightly clasijing ; 

 rays commonly longer than the involucre ; disk roundish, dark purple ; chalf of 

 the receptacle smoothish, rather obtuse , appendages of the style short-conical. 

 (U. discolor. Ell. R. spathulata, Micltx., a smoothish mountain form, with spat- 

 ulatc mostly entire leaves, and smaller heads.) — Dry soil, Florida, and northward. 

 August and September. — Stem 1° - 3° high. Rays often turning reddish at the 

 base in withering. 



3. U. mollis, KlI. Stem liirsnte-villous, branching ; leaves oblong, ob- 

 scurely serrate, sessile and partly clasping, soft-tomcntose on both sides ; the 

 lowest somewhat spatulatc ; scales of the involucre numerous, linear-lanceolate, 

 villous, reflexed, half as long as the (12-20) rays; disk brownish; chaff of the 

 receptacle rather obtuse, tomentose at the apex. — "Western districts of Georgia. 

 August - October. — Stem 2° -3° high. 



4. R. Heliopsidis, Torr. & Gray. Rhizoma prostrate ; stem pubescent, 

 ■with few pedunele-Iikc branehes at the summit ; leaves ovate or oval, sligiitly 

 serrate, obtuse, smoothish, 5-ribbed, pctioled ; scales of the involucre oblong, 

 shorter than the brownish-purple subglobosc disk, and (10-12) oblong-linear 

 rays ; chaff of the rccei^tacle obtuse, pubescent at the apex ; achenia of the rays 

 3-angled, as largo as tliose of the disk. — Pine barrens near Columbus, Georgia, 

 and Alabama. August and September. — Stem 2° high. 



H- -t- Lmv( s divided : stem paniculatelij or corymhosdj] branched. 



5. R. triloba, L. Biennial, rongh-hairy; stem much branched; lowest 

 leaves long-petiokd, ovate or oval, simple, or with two small lateral lobes, serrate ; 

 lower stem-leaves 3-lobed ; the upper simple, sessile, often entire ; heads small, 

 numerous ; scales of the involucre narrow-lanceolate, shorter than the rays ; 

 disk almost black ; chaff of the receptacle awl-pointed, smooth, as long as the 



'flowers. — Var. i-inxatiloba, Torr. & Gray, is smaller and more slender, and 

 the lower stem leaves pinnately lobed. — Dry soil. West Florida and northward. 

 August and September. — Stem 2° - 5° high. Leaves sometimes all undivided. 

 Rays about 8. 



6. R. laciniata, L. Stem smooth, tall (4° -6"), branching; leaves 

 rough ; the lowest pinnately divided, the divisions lanceolate or oblong, lobed or 



