OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMPOSITE. 57 



little satisfaction that Dr. N. L, Britten reached the same 

 conclusion independently, while writing the Compositse for 

 the new Check List of the Gray's Manual region. 



There is another group of species more merged in Solidago 

 that should also be escluded, on the ground of habit alone, 

 unless characters for the more satisfactory establishment of 

 a genus (or two) may yet be found. I refer to what Nuttall 

 proposed as a genus Chrysoma.'^ These are shrubby or suf- 

 frutescent plants, with less of the aspect of Solidago than 

 some species of Euthamia possess; but they have not the 

 achenes of Euthamia^ and are therefore probably to be re- 

 ceived in the rank of a separate genus. The type of Chrys- 

 oma is the Solidago pcmcijlosculosa of Michaux. The sec- 

 ond species, C piunila, Nutt., has achenes perfectly gla- 

 brous, which feature, along with the suffrutescent stem, is 

 against its being referable to Euthamia; but from Solidago 

 it must needs be excluded, though it should have to stand 



alone as a generic type. 



Among plants that have the fades of Solidago and which 

 in my judgment, are too empirically separated from this 

 genus by Asa Gray, I would mention the following: 



S. Parryi. Aplopappiis Parryi, Gray, Am. Journ. Sci. 

 2 Ser, xxxiii. 10 (1862). This plant is surely congeneric with 

 Solidago, and near to S. muUiradiata^ though the heads are 

 considerably larger than in any other known species: bat in the 

 var. minor, (Gray) these are so narrow as to suggest an af- 

 finity for S. macrophylla, another large-headed boreal or 

 montane species. In its permanently white pappus it is not 

 only at variance with most of those groups of things utterly 

 heterogenous embraced in the Aplopappiis of Asa Gray, but 

 is in thoiough accord with Solidago; and the uncommon white- 

 ness of the pappus, as well as the obtuseness of the involu- 

 cral bracts may be mentioned as suggestive— as far as they 

 go— of a relation with S. Eiddellii and its allies, themselves 

 forming a rather peculiar group in this genus. 



Among herbaceous plants which make a near approach to 



iTrans. Am. Phil. Soc. vii. 324. 



