COMPOSITE. (composite FAMILY.) 405 



5. P. pulverulcntu§, Boiss. et Bl. 5 -3 to .5, shrubby at 

 base, crisp-tojTieiiteUous, whitish; branches 3-o-headed. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate in outline, .03 to ,06 long, .005 to .01 broad, pianatipartite into 

 short, ovate-ohlong, denticulate or entire lobes. Involucre a little shorter 

 than flowers ; crown of involucel short, crisp-hairy ; awns 16 or less 

 — Spring — Hauian ; Snoii Fadil to Palmyra, and eastward to Mesopo- 

 tamia. 



Order LVI. COIflPOSlT JE, Vaill. (Composite Family). 



FloweTets in a close head (compound flower) upon a 

 common receptacle^ surrounded hy o/n involucre^ with 5 

 (rarely 4:J stamens inserted on the corolla, the a7ithers 

 united in a tube (syngenesious) — Flowerets perfect, or by 

 abortion imperfect. Receptacle naked, bristly, or cliaffy ; 

 involucre usually of many scales. Calyx-tube united with 

 the 1-celled ovary, the limb (pappus) 0, or consisting of 

 teeth, bristles, awns, scales, or a cup. Corolla gamopetalous, 

 inserted on the calyx-tube, strap-shaped or tubular, the 

 tubular with a 4-5 rarely 2-3-lobed limb. Stamens alternate 

 with corolla-lobes ; anthers usually appendaged at tip. Styles 

 2-cleft at tip. Fruit an akene, containing a single, anatropous 

 seed, with no albumen. An immense order, chiefly herbs. 

 The strap-shaped or ligulate flowerets are called rays, and a 

 head containing such flowers is called radiate. The tubular 

 flowerets compose the disk, and a head with no ray flowers 

 is called discoid. The leaves or parts of the involucre are 

 called scales. The chaff of the pappus is called pales. 



Fig. 231. 



a b 



g h e d t f 



(a) Syngenesious stamens of a composite floweret. (6) The same split and unfolded, 

 showing tlie coherent anthers, witli their appendages, and free filaments, (c) Fruit of a 

 floweret, destitute of calyx-margin, (d-j) Fruits with calyx margin, (rf) cup-shaped, (e) 

 of two pales, {/) of five pales, t<r) of many awns or bristles inserted at apex of fruit, 

 (h) of many bristles inserted at apex of a beak. 



