COMPOSIT^f:. (rOMPOSITK FAMILY.) 2'J3 



Receptacle flat, naked. I'appus of numerous very soft and slender capillarv 

 l)ristles. — Herbs, in tlie United States, with alternate leaves and solitarv or 

 corynibed heads. Flowers chiefly yellow. (Name from senex, an old man, 

 alluding to the hoariness of many species, or to the white hairs of the pappus.) 

 * Rool annual or in u. 3 biennial; heads several or inanij in a cori/mh ; herbage 

 glabrous or soon becoming so. 

 •*- Rat/s none or minute. 



S. vulgXris, L. (Common Ghoi-ndskl.) Low, corymhosely hranchfd,, 

 plaltrate ; leaves pinnatifid and toothed ; clasping tips of involiicral .scah-s 

 blackisli; rays none. — Waste grounds. July -Sept. (Adv. from Kn.) 



S, A i^rosrs, L. Coarser, viscid-i)ul)escent and strong-scented; leaves 2- 

 piiinatitid ; scales not black-tipped; ravs minute. — Waste grounds, coast of 

 N. Eug. (Nat. from Eu.) 



■*- •*- Heads conspicuousl// radiate. 



1. S. lobatus, Pers. (RiTTER-WEED.) Rather tall; leaves somewhat 

 flesliy, l>/rate or pinnate, the divisions or leaflets crenate or cut-lobed, varial)le; 

 heads small in a naked corymb; j-ai/s 6-12, rons/)iruous. — Wet grounds, N. 

 Car. to S. 111., ^[o., and southward. April -July. 



2. S. pallistris, Hook. Annual or biennial, loosely woolly or glabrate; 

 stem stout, 6' - 2^ high ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, irregularlg toothed or laciniate, 

 the upper with a heart-shaped clasping base ; rai/s 20 or more, short, pale yel- 

 low ; pappus copious and becoming very long. — Wet ground, Iowa to N. 

 Wise, Minn., and northward. June. (Eu.) 



* * Root perennial ; heads small or middle-sized, in a naked cori/mb. 



3. S. aureus, L. (Golden Ragwort. Sqi-aw-weed.) Smooth, or 

 floccose-woollij when young (1-3° high); leaves thin, tlie radical simple and 

 rounded, the larger ones mostly heart-shaped, creuate-toothed, long-petioled ; 

 lower stem-leaves Igrate ; upper ones lanceolate, cut-pinnatifid, sessile or partly 

 clasping; corymb umbel-like; rays 8-12. — Common everywhere. ^lay, 

 June. Varies greatly. 



Var. obovatUS, Torr. & Gray. Root-leaves tliicker, round-obovate with 

 a cunoate or truncate base, or the earliest almost sessile in rosulate tufts. (S. 

 Elliottii, Torr. ^- Gray.) — Open grounds. Can. to Ind. and Ga. 



Var. Bals^mitse, Torr. & Gray. Less glabrate ; root-leaves oblong, spatu- 

 late, or lanceolate, narrowed to tlie petiole, serrate, the upper lyrate-pinnatilid ; 

 heads rather small and numerous. — Common. 



4. S. tomentdsus, Michx, (Woolly Ragwort.) Clothed with scarcely 

 deciduous hoary woo! (1 -2° high) ; root-leaves oblong, obtuse, crenate or entire, 

 often large, on elongated stout petioles ; the upper sessile, similar or lyrate- 

 pinnatifid ; corymb flat-topped; rays 12-15. — Del. and mountains of I'enn. 

 (Pursh.), to Fla. and Ark. May. 



5. S. e^nus, Hook. I'sually low, persistently tomentose, rarely at all 

 glabrate , leaves much smaller, si)atulate to oblong, all entire or some cut- 

 toothed or pinnatifid ; achenes glabrous. — N. Minn., Dak., and westward. 



6. S. integerrimus, Nutt. Woolly pubescent when young, soon gla- 

 brate and green ; leaves oblong-lanceolate or oldong, entire or denticulate, 

 the upper bract-like, attenuate from a broad base; heads rather large (6'' 

 high), with green-tipped scales. — Sask. to Minn., and westward. 



