160 GAMOPETALOUS EXOGENS 



linear-oblong, striate, not beaked ; pappus in several series of rough 

 tawny bristles. Perennials : leaves petiolate, very variable ; heads 

 in racemose-paniculate fascicles ; florets greenish- white, or ochroleu- 

 cous, often tinged with purple. 



1, IV. ctlbllS j Hook. Rather stout, purplish and glaucous ; leaves 

 angular-hastate, palmate-lobed, and sinuate-pinnatifid, the upper 

 ones ovate; heads purplish, 8- to 12-flowered. 



Prenanthes alba. L. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 444. 

 WHITE NABALUS. Lion's foot. Rattlesnake-root. Gall of the earth. 

 Stem 2 or 3 to 5 or 6 feet high, smooth, sometimes nearly simple, often much 

 branched. Leaves 2 to 6 or 8 inches long, and often as wide as long, varying from 

 triangular-hastate to palmate-lobed and pinnatifid, the radical ones large; 

 petioles 4 to 8 or 10 inches long. Florets ochroleucous, often with purplish tinge. 

 Halt. Woods, clearings, and copses : frequent. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. The root of this is said to be intensely bitter, and is one of 

 the many Indian, or frontier, remedies for the bite of snakes. 



2. HT. altlSSimus, Hook. Rather slender, greenish; leaves del- 

 toid, sub-cordate, and ovate, dentate, thin; heads greenish, about 

 5-flowered. 



TALLEST NABALUS. 



Stem 3 to 5 feet high, paniculately branched, smooth. Leaves 2 to 5 or 6 inches 

 long ; petioles 3 to 6 or 8 inches in length. Heads of flowers slender, in small ax- 

 illary and loose terminal fascicles, forming a long leafy panicle ; florets yellowish. 

 Hob. Moist woods, and copses : frequent. FL Aug. Fr. Sept. 



. TARAXACUM, Halter. 

 [Gr. Tarasso, to stir, or disturb ; in allusion to supposed active properties.] 

 Heads many-flowered. Involucral scales in two series, the outer or 

 lower ones short, the upper ones long, linear and erect. Akenes 

 oblong, ribbed, muricate on the ribs and at summit, the apex finally 

 produced into a long filiform beak, which bears at summit a copious 

 white capillary pappus. Stemless perennials : leaves, consequently, 

 all radical, pinnatifid or runcinate ; heads large, solitary on fistular 

 scapes ; florets yellow. 



1. T. Dens-lebnis, Desf. Leaves lance-oblong, unequally and acutely 

 runcinate ; involucral scales not corniculate at apex, the outer ones 

 reflexed; akenes spinellose at summit. 

 Leontodon Taraxacum. L. $ FL Cestr. ed. 2. p. 443. 

 LION-TOOTH TARAXACUM. Dandelion (from Dent de Lion]. 



Plant at first pubescent, at length smooth. Leaves 4 to 10 or 12 inches long. 

 Scapes several from the root, 4 to 12 inches high (elongating), terete. Involucre 

 oblong, the inner scales appressed, with scarious margins the outer reflexed, 

 slightly ciliate, finally the entire involucre reflexed. Akenes terminating in a 

 glender beak, which is short at first, then suddenly elongating about % of an inch, 

 and diverging, with the pappus at summit, so as to form a globose head. 

 Hob. Pastures; roadsides, &c. Nat. of Europe. Fl. April. Fr. May. 



Obs. This foreigner although not a very obnoxious weed is 

 more abundant than welcome ; and is, moreover, difficult to get rid 

 of, as myriads of seeds are annually wafted over the country by 

 means of the pappus. The young radical leaves, when blanched, 

 are said to make a good substitute for Endive, as a salad. 



