250 COMPOSITE, (composite family.) 



mon, presenting a great variety of forms ; usually one of the lowest of the 

 common Golden-rods. It flowers early. Aug. -Sept. 



23. S. ulmifolia, ^luhl. Stem smooth, the branches hairy ; leaves thin, 

 elliptical-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed, tapering to the base, loosely veined, 

 beset with soft hairs beneath ; racemes panicled, recurved-spreading ; involu- 

 cral scales lanceolate-oblong ; rays about 4. — Low copses ; common. — Too 

 near the last ; distinguished only by its smooth stem and thin larger leaves. 



24. S. Elliottii, Torr. & Gray. Smooth; stem stout (1-3° high), ye?]/ 

 leafy; leaves elliptical or oblong-lanceolate, acute (2 - 3' long), closely sessile, 

 slightly serrate, strongly veined, thick, smooth both sides, shining above ; heads 

 in dense spreading racemes which are crowded in a close pi/ramidal panicle ; 

 peduncles and achenes strigose-pubescent. (S. elliptica, Torr. ^- Gray, not 

 Ait.) — Swamps (fresh or brackish) near the coast, Mass. to N. J. and south- 

 ward. — Heads showy, 3" long ; the rays 8-12. 



25. S. neglecta, Torr. & Gray. Smooth; stem stout (2-4° high), less 

 leafy; leaves thickish, smooth both sides, opaque; the uj>per oblong-lanceolate, 

 mostly acute and nearly entire ; the lower ovate-lanceolate or oblong, sharply 

 serrate, tapering into a petiole ; racemes short and dense, at length spreading, 

 disposed in an elongated or pyramidal close panicle ; peduncles and achenes 

 nearly glabrous. — Swamps, Maine to Md., Wise, and ^liun. — Heads rather 

 large, croAvded; the racemes at first erect and scarcely one-sided. Very 

 variable, the forms approaching n. 16 and 27. 



Var. linoides, Gray. The most slender form ; radical leaves 4-8' long 

 and 4 - 6" wide, the upper very small, erect , branches of panicle rather few, 

 one-sided ; rays 2-5. (S. linoides, Torr. Sj- Grai/.) — Mass. to N. J. 



26. S. Boottii, Hook. Smooth, or scabrous-pubescent or below hirsute, 

 slender, often branched, 2-5° high; leaves rather finely serrate, ovate to ob- 

 long-lanceolate, pointed ; the upper small, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, often 

 entire ; heads loosely racemose ; rays 1 - 5 or none ; achenes pubescent. — Dry 

 grounds, Va. and .southward. 



27. S. argilta, Ait. Smooth; stem angled ; /eares (large and thin) ouafe, 

 and the up])er elliptical-lanceolate, very sharply and strongly sen-ate (entire only 

 on the branches), /)om/e(/ at both ends, the lowest on margined petioles ; racemes 

 pubescent, spreading, disposed in an elongated open panicle ; rays 6-7, large ; 

 achenes usually glabrous. (S. Muhlenbergii, Torr. Sf Gray.) — Copses and 

 moist woods, N. H. to Penn., Ont., and N. E. Minn. — Racemes much shorter 

 and looser than in the next ; the involucral scales thin and more slender ; the 

 heads somewhat larger, fully 3" long. 



28. S. juncea, Ait. Smooth throughout (1 - 3° high) ; radical and loirer 

 stem-leaves elliptical or lanceolate-oval, sharply serrate with spreading teeth, 

 pointed, tapering into winged and ciliate petioles ; the others lanceolate or nar- 

 rowly oblong, slightly triple-nerved, tapering to each end, the uppermost entire ; 

 racemes dense, naked, at length elongated and recurved , forming a crowded and 

 flat corymb-like panicle ; rays 8- \2, small. (S. arguta, Torr. Sf Gray.) — Var. 

 SCABRELLA, Gray, is somewhat roughish-pubescent (Wise, to Ky.). — Copses 

 and banks ; common. AVell distinguished by its long or drooping racemes, and 

 the closely appressed rigid scales of the involucre, small rays, etc. Heads sel- 

 dom over 2" long, the scales small and pale. 



