COMl'OSIT^E. (composite FAMILY.) 227 



— Perennial or biennial herbs, with alternate simple or lobed leaves, and showy 

 heads terminating the stem or branches. Rays yellow or party-colored. Disk 

 dark pmple or yellowish. 



* Disk ovate or globose. 

 -I- Leaves undivided : stem simple or sparinghj hranched. 



1. R. hirta, L. Hirsute; stem and branches naked at the summit; leaves 

 3-ribbed, lanceolate or oblong, serrate, the upper ones sessile, the lowest nar- 

 rowed into a petiole ; disk roundish, purplish brown ; cliaff of the receptacle 

 acute, hairy at the apex ; appendages of the style subulate. — Dry soil, Florida 

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

 Rays longer or shorter than the involucre. 



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

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

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

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

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

 (R. discolor. Ell. R. spathulata, Michx., a smoothish mountain form, witli spat- 

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

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

 base in withering. 



3. R. mollis, Ell. Stem hirsute-villous, branching ; leaves oblong, ob- 

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

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

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

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

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



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

 with few pediuule-likc branches at the summit; loaves ovate or oval, slightly 

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

 shorter than the brownisii-purple subglobose disk, and (10- 12) oblong-linear 

 rays ; chaff of the receptacle obtuse, pubescent at the apex ; achenia of the rays 

 3-angled, as large as those of tiie disk. — Pine barrens near Columbus, Georgia, 

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



•*- •(- Leaves divided : stem panicuJutelij or con/mbosehj branched. 



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

 leaves long-petioled, 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. pinxatiloba, 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 ])innately divided, the divisions lanceolate or oblong, lobed or 



