194 composite. [Ixeris. 



thin, entire or remotely toothed, or almost pinnatifid. Flowering stems 

 ascending, 4 in. to 1 ft. high, leafless or with a single narrow stem-clasping 

 leaf, bearing 1 to 5 flower-heads on long peduncles. Involucre about 6 lines 

 long ; the bracts broader than in the two last, and slightly scarious on the 

 edge. Achenes very strongly ribbed, almost winged, and quite smooth ; the 

 beak usually short, but variable. — Youngia? debilis, DC. Prod. vii. 194. 



Oil the seacoast, Harland, Hance. A maritime plant, ranging from S. China to Japan. 



4. I. repens, A. Gray in Mem. Amer. Acad. vi. 397. A slender creeping 

 glabrous perennial. Leaves sometimes cordate-ovate and entire, more fre- 

 quently divided into 3 ovate obtuse lobes on distant segments, from \ to near 

 1 in. long, on a petiole of near twice that length. Flower-heads 1 to 5, on 

 leafless scapes or at the ascending ends of the leafy creeping shoots. Invo- 

 lucre 6 lines long, like that of /. debilis. Achenes rather less prominently 

 ribbed, with a still shorter beak. — Chorisis repens, DC. Prod. vii. 177. 



On the seacoast, Harland, Hance, Wright. A maritime plant, ranging from S. China to 

 Japan and Kamtchatka. 



40. CREPIS, Linn. 

 Involucre of a single row of nearly equal bracts, with a few small outer 

 ones. Eeceptacle naked. Achenes oblong, cylindrical or scarcely flattened, 

 striate, tapering at the top, but without a distinct beak, with a pappus of 

 copious soft white hairs. 



A large genus, widely distributed over the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, 

 with a very few subtropical species. 



1. C. japonica, Benth. An erect slender annual, 6 in. to near H ft. 

 high, glabrous or slightly pubescent, or hairy near the base. Leaves mostly 

 radical, stalked, varying from obovate, nearly entire, and 1 to 2 in. long, to 

 lyrate or pinnatifid, 2 to 4 in. long, with a large terminal toothed lobe. 

 Stem-leaves few or none. Panicle loosely corymbose, slender. PloWer-heads 

 numerous. Involucre about 2^ lines long, containing 10 to 15 small yellow 

 florets. — Prenanthes japonica, Linn. Youngia japonica, DC. Prod. vii. 194 ; 

 alsoF. mauritiana, Y. Thunbergiana, y. runcinata, and some others of DC. See 

 A. Gray in Mem. Amer. Acad. vi. 396. 



Roadsides and waste places, Champion and others. Very common in India, extending to 

 Ceylon and the Mauritius j eastward to the Archipelago and N. Australia ; and northward 

 to N. China and Japan. The characters by which A. Gray thinks the genus Youngia might 

 still be kept distinct from Crepis, occur nevertheless in the typical European C. virens. 



A single specimen, from Champion, has the flowers larger and the whole plant stouter and 

 more luxuriant. It may prove a distinct species, but the achenes are too little advanced to 

 determine the characters with precision. 



41. SONCHUS, Linn. 



Involucre ovoid, with imbricate bracts, and usually becoming conical after 

 flowering. Receptacle naked. Achenes flattened and striate, not beaked, 

 with a sessile pappus of copious simple hairs, usually soft and white. 



A considerable genus, ranging like Crepis over the temperate regions of the northern 

 hemisphere. 



1. S. oleraceus, Linn.; Spec. 1116. An erect annual, with a hollow 

 stem, 1 to 3 or even 4 ft. high. Leaves thin, bordered with irregular pointed 



