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, Muhl. /Stem smooth, the branches hairy ; leaven 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), very 

 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 pyramidal 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 upper 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 Minn. Heads rather 

 large, crowded ; 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. Sf Gray.) 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. argllta, Ait. Smooth; stem angled ; leaves (large and thin) ovate, 

 and the upper elliptical-lanceolate, very sharply and strongly serrate (entire only 

 on the branches), pointed 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. Gray.) Copses and 

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

 and looser than in the next ; the involucral scales thin and more slende'r ; the 

 heads somewhat larger, fully 3" long. 



28. S. jlincea, Ait. Smooth throughout (1 - 3 high) ; radical and lower 

 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 

 fat corymb-like panicle ; rays S- 12, small. (S. arguta, Torr. fr Gray.) Var. 

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

 and banks ; common. Well 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. 



