COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 



* Heads narrow, small, cymosely paniculate; rays few, pistillate, usually fertile ; 



involucre erect. 



1. V. OCCidentalis, Walt. Stem tall, 4-winged ; leaves opposite, ovate 

 to oblong-lanceolate, triple-nerved, serrate, pointed at both ends, often pubes- 

 cent beneath (large and thin) ; heads in compound corymbs ; receptacle flat- 

 tish ; flowers yellow; rays 1-5, lanceolate; acheues wingless. (V. Sieges- 

 beckia, Michx.) Rich soil, S. Penn. to 111., and southward. July. 



2. V. Virginica, L. Stem narrowly or interruptedly winged, downy- 

 pubescent, like t/ie loicer surface of the ovate-lanceolate feather-veined alternate 

 leares; heads in compound corymbs ; receptacle convex ; flowers ichite; ravs 

 3-4, oval ; achenes winged. Dry soil, Penn. ( ?) to 111., and southward. Aug. 



* * Heads broader, solitary or few. 



3. V. helianthoides, Michx. Perennial; stem hairy (1-3 high), 

 widely winged by the ovate to the ovate-lanceolate sessile alternate leaves, 

 which are rough above and soft-hairy beneath ; involucre appressed ; rays 

 8-15, pistillate or neutral, usually sterile; achenes winged, tipped with 2 

 fragile awns. ( Actinomeris heliauthoides, Nutt.) Prairies and copses, Ohio 

 to Iowa and southward. July. 



4. V. encelioides, Benth. & Hook. Annual, branching, 1 - 2 high, cine- 

 reous; leaves alternate, ovate or cordate to deltoid-lanceolate, the petioles 

 mostly winged and auricnlate at base ; involucral scales linear, equal, folia- 

 ceous, spreading ; rays numerous, fertile. Kan. to Tex., and westward. 



54. ACTINOMERIS, Nutt. 



Heads many-flowered ; rays neutral, few or none. Involucral scales few, 

 herbaceous, nearly equal, soon deflexed beneath the globular disk. Recep- 

 tacle small, chaffy. Achenes flat, obovate, winged or wingless, at maturity 

 spreading in all directions ; pappus of 2 or 3 smooth persistent awns. Tall 

 branching perennials, with serrate feather-veined leaves, tapering to the base 

 and mostly decnrrent on the stem. Heads corymbed ; flowers chiefly yellow. 

 (Name from d/cris, a ray, and fiepts, a part ; alluding to the irregularity of the 

 rays.) 



1. A. squarrosa, Nutt. Stem somewhat hairy, usually winged above 

 (4-8 high) ; leaves alternate or the lower opposite, oblong or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, pointed at both ends ; rays 2-8, irregular. Rich soil, Penn. and W. 

 New York to Iowa, and southward. Sept. 



55. COREOPSIS, L. TICKSEED. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; rays mostly 8, neutral, rarely wanting. In- 

 volucre double ; each of about 8 scales, the outer rather foliaceous and some- 

 what spreading; the inner broader and appressed, nearly membranaceous. 

 Receptacle flat, with membranaceous chaff deciduous with the fruit. Achenes 

 flat, obcompressed (i. e., parallel with the scales of the involucre), often winged, 

 not narrowed at the top, 2-toothed or 2-awned, or sometimes naked at the sum- 

 mit, the awns not barbed downwardly. Herbs, generally with opposite leaves, 

 and yellow or party-colored, rarely purple, rays. (Name from Kopis, a bug, and 

 5/-J9, resemb.'ance ; from the form of the achene.) 



