COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 793 



few elongate leafy-bracted branches ; rays 1-5 or none ; achenes pubescent. 

 Dry grounds, Va. to Fla. and Tex., northw. in Miss, basin to Mo. July-Sept. 



+ + Leaves all tapering gradually to the base, the uppermost chiefly entire. 

 x Panicle usually as broad as high ; rays 8-12. 



26. S. jiincea Ait. Smooth throughout, 5-12 dm. high; radical and lower 

 stem-leaves 1.5-4 dm. long, elliptical or lanceolate-oval, sharply serrate with 

 spreading teeth, pointed, tapering into winged and ciliate petioles ; the others 

 lanceolate or narrowly oblong, slightly triple-nerved, tapering to each end, the 

 uppermost entire, 3-0 cm. long; racemes dense, naked, at length elongated and 

 recurved, forming a crowded corymb-like panicle ; involucre 2.5-4 mm. long, its 

 closely oppressed rigid pale oblong bracts blunt or acutish. Dry copses and 

 banks, N. B. to Sask., s. to N. C., and Mo. Late June-Sept. Var. SCABRELL> 

 (T. & G.) Gray. Foliage scabrous. Vt. to Ky., and westw. 



Var. ramdsa Porter & Britton. The numerous branches upright, only slightly 

 secund, with short terminal racemes. N. J. to W. Va. and O. 



x x Panicle usually longer than broad; rays 2-8. 



26. S. neglScta T. & G. Smooth ; stem stout, 6-15 dm. high, rather leafy ; 

 leaves thickish, smooth both sides, opaque ; the cauline 20-40 ; the upper oblong- 

 lanceolate, mostly acute and nearly entire; the uppermost 2-5 cm. long; the 

 lower ovate-lanceolate, or oblong, sharply serrate, 2-4 dm. long, 3-8 cm. broad, 

 tapering into a petiole ; racemes short and dense, at first erect and scarcely 

 1-sided, at length spreading, disposed in an elongated or pyramidal close panicle ; 

 involucre 3-4.5 mm. long, its blunt bracts subherbaceous ; rays 3-8 ; peduncles 

 and achenes nearly glabrous. Swamps, brook-sides, and prairies, e. Mass, and 

 Vt. to Md., 111., and Wise. Aug.-early Oct. 



27. S. uniligulata (DC.) Porter. Smooth; stem slender, 1.5-9 dm. high; 

 leaves thick, opaque ; the cauline 5-20 (rarely 30), linear or linear-lanceolate, 

 appressed-ascending ; the lower narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, appressed- 

 serrate, 1-3 dm. long, 0.7-3 cm. broad, tapering to a long petiole ; panicle much 

 is in no. 26, but smaller ; involucre 3.5-5 mm. long, its pale straio-colored bracts 

 chartaceous; rays 2-5. (S. neglecta, var. linoides Gray.) Sphagnum bogs 

 And mossy banks, Nfd. to Ont., s. to N. J., Pa., and 111. July-Sept. 



2. Basal leaves similar to the 30-100 (-200) ordinarily almost uniform or 

 gradually reduced approximate cauline ones. 



o Leaves all (or all but the lower) entire, with prominent midrib but obscure 



veins. 



+ Stem glabrous or merely puberulent ; leaves linear or linear-lanceolate. 



28. S. Od6ra Ait. (SWEET GOLDEN-ROD.) Smooth or nearly so through- 

 out; stem slender, 0.5-1 in. high, often reclined ; leaves linear-lanceolate, entire, 

 shining, pellucid-dotted, the middle ones 6-10 cm. long; racemes spreading, in a 

 small one-sided panicle ; involucre 3-5 mm. long, the few inner yellowish bracts 

 much longer than the outer; rays 3-4, rather large. Borders of thickets in 

 dry or sandy soil, s. N. H. and s. Vt. to Fla., w. to Mo. and Tex. July-Sept. 

 The crushed leaves yield a pleasant anisate odor; but an occasional form is 

 nearly scentless. 



29. S. tortifblia Ell. Stem scabrous-puberulent, 5-9 dm. high ; leaves linear, 

 short (the middle ones 1.5-6 cm. long), commonly twisted, roughish-puberulent 

 or glabrate, often as many as 200 ; panicle of numerous slender recurved 

 racemes: involucre 2.5-3.5 mm. long, the obtuse scales pale straw-color ; rays 

 very short. Dry soil, coast of Va. to Fla. and Tex. Sept. , Oct. 



+ + Stem hirsute ; leaves oblong. 



30. S. fistu!6sa Mill. Stem stout, upright, 0.9-2 m. high, clothed with 

 spreading hairs ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, roughish, hairy beneath, at least on 

 the midrib, serrulate, the upper ovate-lanceolate or oblong and entire, closely 

 sessile ; racemes many, recurved, in a dense pyramidal panicle ; rays 7-10, very 



