Those actineas which belong to the Hymenox'ys (syn. Picrade'nia) section 

 are generally known as rubberweeds. They can hardly be considered as 

 palatable to domestic livestock, being consumed only under starvation condi- 

 tions or when little or no other feed is available. The whole rubberweed 

 group should be regarded with suspicion since bitter rubberweed (A. odora'tn, 

 syn. H. odorata), locally known as bitterweed and limonillo, and pingiie (A. 

 richardso'ni, syn. H. floribun'da), often called Colorado rubberweed, abundant 

 over large areas, are poisonous to livestock, causing large losses, especially of 

 sheep. (See W7.) Rubberweeds have erect, often branched, frequently some- 

 what hairy, leafy stems with the gland-dotted leaves commonly cut into many 

 narrow divisions. The few to numerous, stalked flower heads, having three- 

 lobed, petallike ray flowers, are relatively small, but showy; the bracts of the 

 involucre of the flower head are in two series, the outer being firm and more 

 or less united at the base. 



The sole representative of the Macdouya'Ua section in the United States, 

 viz. A. bigclo'vii (syn. M. bigelovii), found in the mountains of New Mexico 

 and Arizona, is probably negligible as forage. It is a loosely woolly, tufted, 

 perennial herb, with slender, almost naked (scapelike) stems from a woody 

 base, each stem having a single flower head. The linear, mainly undivided 

 leaves are principally basal. 



The rydbergias (section Rydber'gia), named in honor of the late Dr. Per 

 Axel Rydberg, an eminent American botanist, include two species of low, 

 alpine, woolly perennials with very large, showy flower heads having long, 

 narrow, three-toothed ray flowers. The bracts of their involucres are distinct, 

 in three rows, and densely woolly. The leaves, mostly parted or divided into 

 narrow lobes, are crowded at the base on the simple, often chunky root crown, 

 and scattered on the stout, short flowering stems. The seedlike fruits 

 (achenes) are surmounted by a sort of brush (pappus) of five whitish, opaque, 

 bristlelike scales (paleae). These plants (A. brande'gei, syn. R. brandegci; 

 A. grandiflo'ra, syn. R. grandiflora) occur on the higher summits of certain 

 sectors of the Rocky Mountains, the former apparently being confined to 

 Colorado and New Mexico, while A. grandiflora ranges from Montana to Utah 

 and, New Mexico. Sheep on high summer range sometimes pick off the heads 

 and nibble at the leaves, but the species are not important forage. Their 

 showiness commends them to wildflower fans, and some day they will doubtless 

 take their place among cultivated alpines. 



The United States species of the Tetraneu'ris (syn. Actinel'la in part) section, 

 some of which are known as tallowweeds, are rather small plants of distinc- 

 tive appearance. Although widely distributed and fairly common, they are 

 usually not a dominant feature of the vegetation on most of the western ranges. 

 In the Southwest, however, they are sometimes locally abundant, the flower 

 heads of a number of the species reputedly being good sheep and goat forage; 

 local sheepmen in central and western Texas claim that these plants produce 

 a good hard fat both on lambs and sheep. 1 These species also are grazed on 

 some scale by cattle and probably by game animals. This group includes both 

 perennial and annual herbs ; the majority of the western range species have 

 a persistent, often branched root crown (caudex) from which arise the basal, 

 entire-margined, often gland-dotted leaves (rarely, some of them lobed), and 

 a long, usually leafless stalk bearing a solitary, rather large flower head. 

 These plants are more or less soft- or silky-hairy throughout; the presence of 

 conspicuous, woolly hairs at the base of the leaf cluster is very characteristic 

 of many of the species, and aids their identification when not in bloom. A 

 few species have leafy, more or less branched stems with several to many 

 flowers on slender flower stalks. The bright yellow ray flowers are inclined to 

 persist, turning pale with age ; they are not widened at the three-toothed apex, 

 and are marked by four parallel, simple nerves (whence the name Tetraneuris, 

 literally four-nerved). The thin, herbaceous involucral bracts of the flower 

 head, all distinct and much alike, closely overlap in two rows. The nearly 

 colorless pappus scales crowning the seedlike fruits (achenes) have a strong 

 midrib, which is sometimes extended into a sharp point (awn). 



1 Bentley, H. L. A REPORT UPON THE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS OF CENTRAL TEXAS 

 U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Agrost. Bull. 10, 38 pp., illus. 1898. 



