I 



208 LXX. COMPOSITJS. 



Pappus hair-like, very soft, soon falling off. — Fl. Cap. iii. p. 

 526. 



Annual or ])crennial, mostly glabrous. Stems much-branched, rigid. 

 Heads generall}^ panicled. — 2 species, dispersed. 



150. TARAXACUM, Hall. 



Heads man.y-flowered. Involucre double, the outer scales 

 (or calycle) small, either erect or spreading, inner 1-seriate, 

 erect, all frequently callous-tipped. E-eceptacle nude. Achenes 

 oblong, striate, muricate on the striae or spiny near the apex, 

 produced into a long, slender beak. Pappus pilose, multise- 

 riate. — Fl. Cap. iii. p. 526. 



Stemless herbs, with crowded radical, entire or runcinate, mostly glabrous 

 radical leaves, and 1-headed, nude scapes.— 1^. fuhipilis, H., a minute 

 species, was found on Los Tafelberg by Drege. 



151. MICRORHYNCUS, Less. 



Heads several-flowered. Involucre cylindrical, the scales 

 membrane-edged, the outer much shorter, imbricate. Re- 

 ceptacle nude. Achenes 4-5-angled, subrostrate (beak very 

 short), ribbed and furrowed, the ribs smooth or cross-ridged. 

 Pappus copious, pilose. — Fl. Cap. i\i. p. 527. 



Glabrous perennials. — M. Dregeanus, DC, found at Katal, has long, 

 trailing stems, sometimes 8-10 feet long, rooting at intervals. Leaves 

 tufted at the nodes, obovate, denticulate ; pedicels scarcely uncial, among- 

 the leaf tufts ; flowers yellow. 



152. SONCHUS, Linn. 



Heads many-flowered. Involucre imbricate. Achenes 

 wingless, compressed, beakless, longitudinally ribbed, the ribs 

 often cross-ridged or muricate. Pappus soft, very white, of 

 very slender, multiseriate hairs. — Fl.' Cap. \\\. p. 527. 



Annuals or perennials. Leaves entire or pinnatisect, runcinate or lyrate. 

 Flowers yellow. — 4 native species, perennial ; and S. oleraceus, the common 

 Sowthistle of Europe, a weed everywhere. 



153. HIERACIUM, Linn. 



Heads many-flowered. Involucre ovate, often cylindrical, 

 composed of linear, obtuse or acuminate, 2-m any -seriate, im- 

 bricate scales. Receptacle nude. Achenes 5-angled, sub- 

 striate, beakless, clavate oblong or fusiform. Pappus persistent, 

 1-seriate, rigid, of rough, often discoloured, bristles.— i^^/. 

 Cap. iii. p. 529. 



A vast cosmopolitan genus, of which there are 2 Cape species. Leaves, 

 in our species, chiefly radical ; stem branched, several- or many-headed. 



