434 COMPOSITE. Malacothrix. 



long. Involucre barely 4 lines high. The conspicuous many-toothed crown to the akeiie is here 

 evidently pappus, and of the series to which the stout bristle belongs. 



M. FENDLERI, Gray, PI. Wright., of New Mexico, is known by its rather large heads, and 

 dark-colored cylindical and equally 15-ribbed akenes, with the cup-like apex entire, and a single 

 persistent bristle ; in aspect it resembles M. Torrcyi. 



*-+ ++ All the bristles of the pappus deciduous in a ring : the border of the akene naked 



or merely denticulate. 



6. M. obtusa, Benth. A span to a foot or more in height, glabrous, except 

 some woolliness when young : stems loosely paniculately branched, scape-like or 

 few-leaved below : leaves runcinate-pinnatitid, their lobes and teeth obtuse and 

 rounded : heads small : involucre narrow-campanulate (3 or 4 lines long, contain- 

 ing rather numerous or sometimes few flowers) : akenes obovate-oblong, obtusely 

 angled by the 5 stronger ribs, the small intermediate ribs either obscure or evident, 

 the slightly narrowed apex with a narrow entire border. M. obtusa & M. parvi- 

 flora, Benth. PI. Hartw. 321, the latter apparently no more than a slender and 

 small-flowered form. 



Open ground, rather common from Monterey to Humboldt Co. , and Sierra Valley. In this 

 species the capillary bristles of the receptacle are often manifest, and about twice the length of the 

 akenes, but fragile or deciduous ; sometimes only traces of them are to be found. 



7. M. sonchoides, Torr. & Gray. A span high, diffusely spreading, nearly 

 glabrous, stouter : radical leaves runcinate-pinnatitid with teeth or lobes somewhat 

 spinulose-pointed : heads larger: akenes linear -prismatic, five of the 15 ribs being 

 stronger than the rest ; the summit hardly contracted, bearing a crown-like minutely 

 15-denticulate white border. M. obtusa, Eaton, Bot. King Exp. 202, in part. 

 Leptoseris sonchoides, Nutt. in Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. n. ser. vii. 438. 



N. W. Nevada, Lemmon, 1875. Utah to Nebraska. The most eastern species; but now de- 

 tected so near to California that it probably will be found within it. 



* * Perennials or sometimes probably biennials, with a firm or somewhat woody 



base: no outer pappus of bristles. (Malacomeris & Leucoseris, Nutt.) 



+- Flowers yellow : plant white-woolly. 



8. M. incana, Torr. & Gray. Low, white with cottony wool : leaves mostly 

 crowded on a (biennial V) crown or on short stout stems, pinnatitid : flowering stems 

 scape-like, a few inches high, bearing one or two rather large heads. Malacomeris 

 incana, Nutt. 1, c. 



San Diego, on an island in the bay. Collected only by Nuttall, whose specimens are 

 imperfect. 



-H -t- Floivers white (changing to rose-color ?) : stems leafy, paniculately branched, a 

 foot or two high, apparently from a perennial root. 



9. M. saxatilis, Torr. & Gray. Minutely and lightly tomentose, or nearly 

 glabrous : leaves lanceolate or the lower somewhat spatulate, or those of the branches 

 linear, entire, laciniate-toothed, or sparingly pinnatifid : involucre campanulate or 

 hemispherical, about half an inch high ; the short calyculate scales numerous and 

 passing into loose subulate bracts: akenes linear-oblong, 10-ribbed, crowned with 

 an obvious 10-denticulate border. Gray, 1. c. M. saxatilis & M. commutata, Torr. 

 & Gray. Leucoseris saxatilis & L. California, Nutt. 1. c. Hieracium ? Calif or- 

 nicum, DC. Senecio flocciferus, DC. 



On the coast at Santa Barbara and southward. Seems to pass into the next, unless the akenes 

 furnish a character. 



10. M. tenuifolia, Torr. & Gray. Glabrous or nearly so, with slender panicu- 

 late peduncles : leaves narrowly linear or the upper filiform, mostly pinnately parted 

 into few divisions : akenes obovate and with an obscure nearly entire border. 

 Leucoseris tenuifolia, Nutt. 1. c. *? 



