COMPOSITE. (composite FAMILY.) 229 



leafy spreading tips. Receptacle flat or convex, chaffy. Achcnia 4-angled, usu- 

 ally compressed. Pappus of 2 (rarely 3-4) caducous chaffy scales or awns. — 

 Annual or perennial herbs, with opposite or alternate, commonly 3-ribbed, undi- 

 vided leaves. Heads solitary, terminating the stem or branches. Disk yellow 

 or dark, purple. Rays yellow. 



* Annual: disk dark purple : chaff of the receptacle ^-toothed : leaves on long and 

 slender petioles : achenia pubescent. 



1. H. debilis, Nutt. Roughish; stem slender, decumbent, branching; 

 leaves rarely opposite, deltoid-ovate, acuminate, wavy-serrulate ; heads small ; 

 scales of the involucre narrowly lanceolate, slender-pointed ; pappus 2-awncd. 

 — Shores of East Florida. — Stem l°-2° long. Rays 10-14. 



2. H. praecox, Gray & Engclm. Rough with scattered rigid hairs, villous 

 when young ; stem erect, paniculately branched, somewhat spotted ; leaves thin, 

 coarsely serrate, acuminate, undulate, the lowest deltoid-ovate, cordate, opposite, 

 the upper ones ovate-lanceolate ; scales of the involucre lanceolate-subulate ; 

 rays 15-20. — Sandy shores. West Florida, and westward. Ju]y - Sept. — Stem 

 2° -3° high. 



* * Perennial : disk dark purple. 

 ■*- Rays minute or roanting. 



3. H. Hadula, Torr. & Gray. Stem simple, ascending, leafy and hirsute 

 towards the base, naked and smoothish above ; leaves thick, entire, rugose, hir- 

 sute, the 4 radical ones large, roundish or rhombic ; spreading ; the lower ones 

 obovate, opposite ; the uppermost small, linear ; scales of the involucre oblong- 

 ovate ; rays mostly wanting ; chaff of the receptacle acuminate. — Low sandy 

 pine barrens, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Oct. — Stem 2° high. Heads 



rather large. 



•t- -1- Rags conspicuous. 



4. H. angUStifolius, L. Stem rough-hairy or smoothish, paniculately 

 branched; leaves linear, elongated, entire, with the margins revolute ; the lowest 

 ones opposite ; scales of the involucre lanceolate, acuminate ; chaff of the recep- 

 tacle 3-toothed ; rays 12-18, showy. — Varies, with broader leaves, and the disk 

 at first yellow. — Low ground, Florida to Mississippi, and northward, common. 

 Oct. — Stem 2° - 6° high. Leaves 3' - 6' long. 



5. H. heterophyllus, Nutt. Hirsute or hispid ; stem slender, mostly 

 simple, naked above ; leaves opposite, thick, entire ; the lower ones lanceolate or 

 oblong, tapering into a petiole ; the others linear, remote ; scales of the invo- 

 lucre lanceolate, acuminate, ciliate ; chaff of the receptacle 3-toothed, the middle 

 tooth cuspidate; rays 1.5-20, elongated. — Pine-barren swamps, Florida to 

 North Carolina, and westward. Sept. and Oct. — Stem 2° -4° high. Lowest 

 leaves 2' - 6' long. Rays 1 i' long. 



6. H. atrorubens, L. Hirsute or hispid ; stem sparingly branched and 

 somewhat naked above ; leaves opposite, oval, serrate, the lowest large and long- 

 petioled ; the upper small, sessile, distant ; scales of the involucre oval or ol)long, 

 obtuse ; chaff of the receptacle acute; rays about 12; achenia pubescent at the 

 apex. (H. sparsifolius, Ell ) — Dry soil, Florida to North Carolina. Sept. and 

 Oct. — Stem 2° - 5° high. Lowest leaves 4' - 6' long. Heads rather small. 



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