268 COMPOSITE FAMILY 



heads on long peduncles. Leaves entire to deeply lobed, even 

 in the same species. Akenes ribbed, bearing 5 to 10 pappus- 

 scales each continued as a slender awn. 



1. M. nutans Gray. Stem slender, 6 to 15 in. high, from a 

 thickened root, branching and somewhat leafy. Heads showy, 

 nodding in bud. Pappus of 15 to 20 soft feathery bristles 

 from a short scale-like base. — Common in moist soil of forests 

 and meadow borders. 



2. M. linearifolia Sch. Bip. Stems 4 to 12 in. high, from a 

 slender tap-root, thickened and hollow beneath the solitary 

 erect head. Akenes narrowed above; pappus-scales white, 

 becoming y 2 in. long, each with a slender awn from the 

 notched summit. — Foothills and warm slopes up to 7000 ft. alt. 



43. STEPHANOMERIA. 

 Herbs and shrubs with purplish or white heads in panicles. 

 Akenes oblong, or narrowed below, strongly angled, glabrous. 

 Pappus-bristles feathery. 



1. S. lactucina Gray. Perennial, not woody, leafy to the 

 top, 4 to 12 in. high. Leaves broadly linear, entire or few- 

 toothed, 1 to 4 in. long, the uppermost ones scarcely smaller. 

 Heads y 2 in. high, on spreading peduncles. Pappus-bristles 

 sordid, feathery except at base. — Rare, but found at Lake 

 Eleanor, Rancheria Mt, Yosemite Valley, Mariposa Grove, etc. 



2. S. virgata Benth. Annual or biennial, not woody, 

 sparsely leafy, 1 to 10 ft. high. Leaves oblong to linear, 

 entire or toothed. Heads nearly sessile all along the branches, 

 Y± in. high. Pappus white, feathery almost to base. — Dry 

 slopes up to 5000 ft. alt. 



3. S. myrioclada Eat. Woody at base, much branched and 

 bushy, 1 or 2 ft. high. Leaves of the branches reduced to 

 scales. Heads short-peduncled, small, the bracts and flowers 

 only 3 or 4 each. — Reported from the "Yosemite"; more com- 

 mon in Nevada. 



S. tenuifolia Hall, is similar to no. 3, but the stems are not 

 woody and the leaves are mostly slender and grass-like. It 

 may reach our borders from the desert side. 



44. MALACOTHRIX. 



1. M. obtusa Benth. Annual, 5 to 15 in. high, with many 



slender branches, but the leaves nearly all in a basal tuft, 



often with traces of wool, otherwise smooth. Leaves lobed, 



x /z to 2y 2 in. long. Heads small, white or pinkish. Akenes 



