560 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



* Herbs of the United States, Mexico, and Fernando do Noronha. 



t- Wings of the stem 4 to 5, narrow, seldom attaining the inflorescence : pappus 



well developed. 



90. V. viRGiNiCA, L. Spec. ii. 901; DC. Prodr. v. 616. V. poly^ 

 cephala, DC. 1. c. — Highly variable as to foliage, but without significant 

 or constant technical differences. 



a (typical form). Leaves undulate-dentate to entire, not lobed, soft- 

 pubesceut beneath : rays about 6 mm. long. — Illinois to Georgia and 

 Texas, common. Ervendberg's no. 58 from Huasteca, S. Mexico, is 

 placed here with doubt. 



Var. P LACiNiATA, Gray. Leaves sinuately lobed : rays as in the 

 typical form. — Syn. Fl. i. pt. 2, 287. V. laclniata, Nutt. Gen. ii. 

 170. V. sinuata, Elh Sk. ii. 411 ; DC. 1. c. G15. — S. Carolina, Dr. 

 Mellichamj), to Florida, near the coast. 



Var. y insularis. Leaves lobed or undivided : rays short, 3 to 4 mm. 

 long, otherwise closely like the typical form. — Fernando do Noronha, 

 Ridley, Lea, & Romage, 1887. Type in herb. Gray. 



H- H- Wings of the stem commonly C, usually penetrating the inflorescence : leaves 

 mostly sinuate-dentate or deeply crenate : pubescence very short : pappus well 

 developed, half to two thirds as long as the achene : S. W. United States and 

 adj. Mexico. 



91. V. MiCROPTERA, DC. 1. c. 616. — Between Laredo and Bejar, 

 Berland ier, nos. 182, 1442 ; on the Rio Grande near Blancos, Schott ; 

 Guadelupe, Falmer, no. 732 (coll. of 1880) ; Nuevo Leon, Berlandler, 

 June, 1844 ; Matamoras, Gregg. 



Var. mollissima. Leaves velvety with dense somewhat tawny tomen- 

 tum beneath. — Valley near Monterey, Nuevo Leon, 7 July, 1888, C. 

 G. Prlngle, no. 1916, also in Nuevo Leon, Berlandler, June, 1843, and 

 on the Rio Coleto, Texas, September, 1850, G. Thurber, no. 8. 



.^ H_ H_ Wings of the stem 5 or 6: pappus abortive, scarcely exceeding the narrow 

 wing : outer involucral scales spatulate with an herbaceous tip. 



92. V. rumicifolia. Stems thick, herbaceous, pithy, finely pubes- 

 cent, broadly 5(-6 ?) -winged : leaves alternate, elliptic-lanceolate, large, 

 1.5 to 2 dm. lon<T, 4 to 8 cm. broad, sharply and doubly sinuate-dentate, 

 acute, narrowed below to a sessile and decurreut base, thin, green and 

 sparsely pubescent on both surfaces; the upper leaves subentire, oblong, 

 elongated, obtuse, crisped on the margins : branches of the corymbose 

 panicle winged ; pedicels sordid-villous ; heads larger and more numer- 

 ously flowered than in V. virginica; involucral scales canescent-villous, 



