DIPSACE/K. (teasel FAMILY.) 229 



biennials, usually smooth, with forking stems, tender and rather succulent 

 leaves (entire or cut-lobed towards tlie base), and whito or wlijtish cvmose- 

 clustered and braoted small flowers. — Our speeies all have the limb of the 

 calyx obsolete, and are so much alike in aspect, Howers, etc., that good charac- 

 ters are only to be taken from the fruit. They all have a rather short corolla 

 the limb of which is nearly regular. (Name a diminutive of N'alcriana.) 

 * Corolla bluish : fruit with a corkij mass (it (he back of (he fertile cell. 



v. OLiT^RiA, Poll. Fruit flatfish, ol)li(|uely rliomboidal ; empty cells as 

 large as the fertile, contiguous, the tliin jjartition at lengtjj breaking up. — 

 Old fields, N. Y. to Penn. and J^a. (Nat. from Ku.) 



* * Corolla white ; no corki/ iiiass behind the fertile cell. 



•*- Fertile cell broader than the emptij ones ; cross-section of fruit triaufjular. 



1. V. Chenopodifolia, DC. Stems with long intcrnodes and few forks ; 

 glomerate cymes few_, slender-peduncled ; bracts broadly lanceolate ; fruit gla- 

 brous or pubescent, 2" long. (Fedia Fagopyrnm, Turr. jj- Craj/.) — Moist 

 grounds, western N. Y. to Minn., south to Ya. and Ky. 



■*- -*- Fertile cell as broad as the empti/ ones, beaked ; cross-section quadrate. 



2. V. radi^ta, Dufr. Fruit ovate-tetragonal, doicnij-pube scent (sometimes 

 glabrous) ; empty cells as thick as the oblong-ovate fertile one, or thicker, a 

 broad shallow groove between them. (Fedia radiata, Michx.) — Low grounds, 

 Penn. to Minn., Tex., and Fla. 



3. V. Stenocarpa, Krok. Fruit oblong-tetragonal, rowwow/y (7/f/?;;0H5; 

 oblong fertile cell tliicker than the linear-oblong approximate empty ones. 

 (Fedia stenocarpa, Engelm.) — W. Mo. and E. Kan. to Tex. 



^- •*- •«- Fertile cell much the narrowest, dorsally \ -nerve d ; section roundish. 



4. V. Woodsiana, Walp. Fruit r' long or more; fertile cell ovate, 

 tipped with a tooth; empty ones inflated, with oblong depression (.sometimes 

 an open cavity) in the middle. — Moist grounds, N. Y. and Penn. to Tex. 



Var. umbilic^ta, Gray. Empty cells becoming confluent, vesicular by 

 incurvation of tlie circular njargin, forming a deep and round umbilication. 

 (Fedia umbilicata, Sulliv.) — N. Y. to Ohio and southward. 



Var. patell^ria, Gray. Fruit saucer-shaped, emarginate at base and apex, 

 winged by the divergent cells. (Fedia patellaria, .Sulliv.) — 8ame range. 



Order 54. DIPSACE^S]. (Teaskl Family.) 



Herbs, icith opposite or v^horled leaves, no stipules, and thp flowers in 

 dense heads, surrounded hy an involucre, as in the Composite Familv ; hut 

 the stamens are distinct, and the suspended .^eed has albumen. — Kepre- 

 sented by the foUowinji; introduced species and by the cultivated Sweet 

 Scabious {Scabiosa atro})urj)W(a). 



1. DIPSACUS, Tourn. Teasel. 



Involncre many-lcavod. longer than tlie chaffy lt>afy -tipped and poiiitoil l)racts 

 among the dtMiselv capitate flowers; each flower with a 4-leavod calyx-like in- 

 volucel investing tlie ovary and fruit (a<-lieiie). Cal\ x-tnlte cohereiit with the 

 ovary, the limb cuj) shaped, without a pajipus. Corolla nearly regular, 4Hdeft. 

 Stamens 4, inserted on the corolla. Style slender. — Stout and coarse bieu- 



