W204 

 (leaf 2) 



GOLDENEYES (Viguie'ra spp., syn. Gymnolo'mia spp.) 



Viguiera is a New World genus, consisting, according to Blake 1 of 

 143 species and 28 varieties chiefly of Lower California, Mexico, and 

 South America. It is usually composed of perennial herbs or shrubs, 

 although some species are annual ; the leaves are opposite, at least be- 

 low; the numerous small flowers, arranged in mostly yellow heads, 

 have the appearance of a single flower. The genus, named in honor 

 of Dr. L. G. A. Viguier, a physician and botanist of Montpellier, 

 France, is a member of the immense aster, or composite family 

 (Asteraceae, or Compositae). The species are usually called sun- 

 flowers, which name is best restricted to the true sunflowers (Heli- 

 antJws spp.) and perhaps to the closely related Helianthella genus. 

 Since Viguiera has no well-established common name, goldeneye, 

 although never previously applied to this genus, is suggested as an 

 appropriate common name. Blake x lists 12 species, involving 7 varie- 

 ties, which grow in the United States ; an annual, Porter goldeneye 

 (V. por'teri], is the sole eastern species and occurs in Georgia only. 

 Three of the eleven western species are annuals; four species are 

 shrubby; the others are perennial herbs. 



The western annuals, which include annual goldeneye (V. (m'nwa}, 

 hairy goldeneye (V. cilia' ta), and longleaf goldeneye (V. longi- 

 fo'lia). all extend southward into Mexico. V. annua and V. longi- 

 folia also grow in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, V. ccrmw ex- 

 tending also into southern Utah; V. ciliata in its typical form ap- 

 pears in the United States from Utah to New Mexico, and has, in 

 addition, become naturalized in the neighborhood of Santa Monica, 

 Calif. These three annuals have subsimple or branched, erect stems, 

 yellow flower heads, and are somewhat similar in general aspect to 

 showy goldeneye. Under normal conditions they are practically 

 worthless as forage plants, but may be utilized when other forage 

 is scarce. 



The four herbaceous perennial species of the range country in- 

 clude showy goldeneye, annotated at length at the beginning of this 

 discussion, heartleaf goldeneye (V. cordifo'lia), which ranges in its 

 typical form from Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to Mexico ; V. 

 denta'ta, which grows as var. lancifo'lia in Arizona and Mexico 

 and as var. bre'vipes in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico; 

 and pvalleaf goldeneye (V. ovaflis], occurring in Arizona and New 

 Mexico. In the main, V. oordifolia, dentata, and ovalis have egg- 

 shaped leaves, except for V. dentata lancifolia, whose leaves are nar- 

 rowly lance-shaped; some of the leaves of heartleaf goldeneye are 

 also lance-shaped, although all its foliage has a more or less heart- 

 shaped base, as the names heartleaf and cordifolia imply. These 

 three species differ materially in habit. Heartleaf goldeneye usually 

 has several stems up to 3 feet tall from a deep root; its flower heads 

 are numerous and borne in panicles, with 6 to 8 ray flowers. V. 

 dentata has a slender, much-branched stem .from 3 to over 6 feet high, 



1 Blake, S. P. A REVISION OP THH GENUS VIGUIERA. Harvard Univ. Contrib. Gray 

 Herbarium (n. s.) 54, 205 pp., illus. 1918. 



