208 COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 



3. B. asteroid.es, L'Her. Stem paniculate, the branches short; leaves 

 lanceolate, entire ; achenia smooth, narrow-margined ; pappus very short, with- 

 out awns. Swamps, North Carolina. Stem 2 -3 high. Heads intermediate 

 in size between the two preceding. 



20. SOLIDAGO, L. GOLDEN-ROD. 



Heads few or many-flowered. Rays 1 - 16, rarely wanting, pistillate. Disk- 

 flowers tubular, perfect. Scales of the involucre imbricated, rarely with spread- 

 ing tips. Receptacle flat, mostly alveolate. Achenia terete, many-ribbed. 

 Pappus simple, of numerous scabrous mostly capillary bristles. Perennial 

 (rarely shrubby) erect plants, with alternate leaves, and small heads of yellow 

 flowers. 



1. CHRYSASTRUM. ScaJ.es of the involucre with herbaceous spreading tips: 

 bristles of the pappus unequal, some of them thickened upward : racemes short, 

 forming a long and narrow leafy panicle. 



1. S. discoidea, Torr. & Gray. Pubescent or hairy; stem simple or 

 branched ; leaves ovate, acute, abruptly narrowed into a petiole, the lower ones 

 coarsely serrate ; racemes composed of 3 - 6 large 10 - 15-flowered heads ; rays 

 none ; achenia smooth. (Aster ? discoideus, Ell.) Rich woods, Florida, Geor- 

 gia, and westward. September. Flowers yellowish-white. Stem 3 5 high. 



2. S. squarrosa, Muhl. Stem stout, simple, pubescent above ; leaves 

 large, smoothish, oblong, acute, serrate, the lower ones tapering into a long 

 winged petiole ; the upper sessile and entire ; racemes shorter than the leaves, 

 composed of 3-6 clustered heads ; rays 12-16, showy; achenia smooth. 

 Mountains of Georgia, and northward. September. Stem 2 -4 high. Low- 

 est leaves 6'- 8' long. Heads 16 - 24-flowered. 



$ 2. VIRGAUREA. Scales of the involucre oppressed : rays mostly fewer than t/ie 

 disk-flowers, rarely wanting : racemes racemose, corymbose, or paniclcd. 



* Racemes not 1 -sided ; leaves feather-veined. 



*- Racemes axillary, cluster-like, usually shorter than the leaves : the uppermost often 

 crowded and racemose : leaves uniform, serrate. 



3. S. pubcns, M. A. Curtis. Stem simple, slender, pubescent ; leaves 

 thin, oval-lanceolate, acuminate at each end, coarsely serrate, pubescent ; ra- 

 cemes dense, the upper ones racemose ; heads 8- 14-flowered ; rays 4-7 ; scales 

 of the involucre obtuse, villous-pubescent ; achenia hoary. Upper and moun- 

 tainous parts of North Carolina, Curtis. August. Stem 2 - 3 high. Leaves 

 3' -5' long. 



4. S. Buckleyi, Torr. & Gray. Villous-pubescent ; leaves oblong, acute 

 at each end, coarsely serrate, smoother above ; racemes loose, all separate and 

 much shorter than the leaves ; heads 15 - 20-flowered ; rays 4 - 6 ; scales of the 

 involucre rather acute, nearly smooth ; achenia short and smooth. Interior of 

 Alabama, Buckley. October. Stem 2 high. Leaves 3' long. 



5. S. latifolia, L. Stem smooth, simple, angled ; leaves oval or ovate, 

 acuminate, abruptly contracted at the base, unequally toothed-serrate, mostly 



