206 COMPOSITuE. 



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produced into a filiform beak. Pappus of copious soft and 

 white capillary bristles. 



L. elongata MiiM. : stem erect, smoothish, paniculate at the summit ; 

 leaves subclasping, pale beneath ; the lower runcinate-pinnatifid ; upper 

 mostly lanceolate and entire, sometimes elongated ; heads in an elongated 

 leafless panicle. G. longifolia Mich. 



var. integrifolia Torr. <^ Gr. : leaves nearly all undivided, lanceolate. 

 L. integrifolia Big. 



var. sanguinea Torr. d^ Gr. : leaves nearly all runcinate ; flowers pur- 

 plish or red. L. sanguinea Big. and L. hirsuta Nutt. 



Woods and road sides ; often growing up from ground newly burnt over. 

 Can. to Geor. W. to Miss. July — Sept. @. — Stem '£—S feet high ; in var. san- 

 guinea smaller. Heads rather smaller than in garden lettuce. Flowers yellow, 

 purple or red. I follow Torrey and Gray in uniting with this species the three 

 which have heretofore been described as distinct. Wild Lettuce. Fire-weed. 



63. TARAXACUM. ^aZZer.— Dandelion. 

 (From the Greek Tapaacroi; on account of its medicinal qualities.) 



Heads many-flowered. Involucre double ; the outer scales 

 small, spreading or reflexed ; the inner in a single series, erect. 

 Receptacle naked. Achenia oblong, striate, muricate on the 

 ribs, produced into a long beak. Pappus in many series, white, 

 pilose. 



T. Dens-leonis Desf. : smooth ; leaves equally and acutely nincinate, the 

 segments toothed ; outer scales of the iitvolucre reflexed ; achenia muricate 

 at the apex. Leontodon Taraxacum Linn. 



Pastures, &c. Throughout Can. and the U. S. April— Nov. %.—Root 

 thick. Scajies often several from the root, each with one large terminal head. 

 Flowers yellow. In its young state it is used as a potherb. Introduced, but al- 

 most everywhere naturalized. Common Dandelion. 



64. SONCHUS. Linn.— Sow Thistle. 

 (.An ancient Greek name, the meaning of which is obscure.) 

 Heads many-flowered, dilated at base. Involucre imbricate. 

 Receptacle naked. Achenia compressed, not winged or beaked, 

 longitudinally ribbed, transversely rugose. Pappus of nume- 

 rous soft and very white hairs. 



1. S. okraceus Linn.: smooth or with the branches glandular-pilose; 

 cauline leaves runcinate-pinnatifid or the upper undivided, clasping, slightly 

 spinulose-toothed ; the auricles acute; peduncles somewhat tomentose- when 

 young. (S. ciliatus Lam. 



Waste grounds. Can. and throughout the U. S. July— Sept. (^.—Stem 

 2 4 feet high, hollow and succulent. Leaves 2—6 inches long, variously di- 

 vided. Heads in a somewhat umbelled corymb. F/oiwers pale yellow. Pappus 

 very white and silky. Introduced from Europe. Common Sow-thistle. 



2. S. asper Vill. : smooth or somewhat glandular hairy at the summit ; 

 lower leaves spatulate or oval ; cauline undivided, undulate or sliditly 



