362 LXXV. COMPOSITZ. TARAXACUM. 
reduced to the minute, subulate bracts; ids. clustered, in a long, compound, 
virgate, somewhat secund raceme; invol. with about 8 scales and 10 flowers; 
pappus straw-colored.—A remarkably slender, wand-like species, in sandy 
soils, N. J. to Flor. Stem 2—4f high, racemose halfits length. Leaves gradu- 
ally reduced and simplified from the base upward, as in most of the species. 
Sept. Oct. a 
§§ Heads nodding or erect, hairy. Leaves undivided. 
7. IN. racemosus. Hook. (Prenanthes. Mz. Harpalyce. Don.) 
Glabrous, simple, slender ; /vs. all undivided, lower oval-lanceolate, sharp- 
ly denticulate, petiolate, upper ovate-lanceolate, subclasping, entire; ids. in 
nodding fascicles, arranged in a long, interruptedly spicate panicle; invol. of 
8—9 scales, with 9—12 flowers; pappus straw-color.—N. J., N. W. States and 
Can. Stem 2—4f high. Flowers pale red-purple. 
6.T.&G. Lws. deeply and irregularly pinnatifid. 
8. N. creprpineus. DC. (Prenanthes crepidinea. Michz.) 
Nearly glabrous; st. tall, stout, corymbosely paniculate; /vs. large, irreg- 
ularly toothed, petioles winged, lower ones oblong-ovate, somewhat hastate or 
deltoid, upper oblong-lanceolate ; Ads. nodding, in small pedunculate and pani- 
eled clusters; invol. hairy, of 11—14 scales, with 25—35 flowers ; pappus tawny. 
—Fields and thickets, Western States! One of the largest species. Stem 5—8f 
high. Leaves 4—12’ by 23—7’, obtuse or acute. Heads large but not nume- 
rous, with brown scales and yellowish flowers. Aug.—Oct. 
9. N. aspen. T. & G. (N. Illinoensis. DC. Prenanthes asper. Micha. 
Choudrilla Ill. Poir.)—Sz?. strict, simple, scabrous; dvs. simple, seabrous- - 
pubescent, dentate, lower ones oblong-oval, on margined petioles, upper lance- 
oblong and lance-linear, subentire, seSsile; hds. erect, in small fascicles, in a 
slender, elongated, compound raceme; invol. strongly hirsute, of 7—10 scales 
and with 11—14 flowers ; pappus straw-color.—Dry prairies and barrens, West- 
ern States, Dr. Skinner! common! Stem 2—4f high, nearly smooth. Leaves 
3—3’ long, pubescent or glabrous. Raceme 1—2f long. F'ls. ochroleucous, Sept. 
81. TROXIMON. Nutt. 
Gr. rpogtpos, eatable ; applied to this genus with little propriety. 
Heads many-flowered; involucre campanulate, scales loosely imbri- 
cate, lance-ovate, membranaceous, in 2—3 rows; achenia oblong= 
linear, compressed, glabrous, not rostrate; pappus setaceous, copious, 
white —% Lvs. all radical. Scape bearing a single, large, showy head 
with yellow flowers. 
T. cuspipatum. Ph. (T.marginatum. Nutt.) . 
Rt. fusiform; vs. linear-lanceolate, acuminate, margins tomentose, often 
undulate ; scales acuminate-cuspidate, erect, smooth, in 2 series, the outer nearly 
equal to the inner.—Prairies, Wis., Lapham, Ill., Mead, W. to the Rocky Mts., 
Nuttall. Apr.—Jn. 
82. TARAXACUM. Desf. 
Gr. TapaxrTtkos, cathartic; on account of its once celebrated medicinal properties. 
Involucre double, the outer of small scales much shorter than the 
inner, appressed row; receptacle naked; achenia produced into a 
long beak crowned with the copious, white, capillary pappus.—Acau- 
lescent herbs, with runcinate leaves. 
T. Dens-Leonis. Less. (Leontodon Taraxacum. Linn.) Dandelion. 
Outer scales of the involucre reflexed; lvs. runcinate, smooth, dentate.— 
1 In all open situations, blossoming at all seasons except winter. Leaves all 
radical, and examples of that peculiar form termed runcinate, that is, re-unci- 
nate, the teeth or claws inclining backwards towards the base of the leaf rather 
than the summit. Scape hollow, round, bearing a single yellow head. After 
the flower is closed and decayed, the scape rises higher and bears a head of 
