254 coMPOsiT.t:. (composite family.) 



37. RUDBECKIA, L. Cone-flower. 



Heads niany-HoweiTd, radiate ; the rays noutral. Scales of the involucre 

 leaf-like, in about a rows, spreading. Keceptaclc conical or columnar ; the short 

 cliatt' concave, not rigid. Achenia 4-angular, smooth, not mai-gincd, tlat at the 

 top, witli no i)ai)j)us, or a minute crown-like border. — Chiefly jjcrennial herbs, 

 with alternate leaves, and siiowy heads terniinating the stem or branches ; the 

 rays generally long, yellow. (Named in honor of the Projtssors Itudbtclc, fatlier 

 and son, predecessors of Linnaeus at Upsal. ) 



* Disk cohiiiiiwr ill fruit, dull (jreeriish-i/eUow : leaves divided and cut. 



1. R. laciniata, L. Stem smooth, branching (3° -7° high); leaves 

 smooth or rougliisli, the lowest pinnate, with 5-7 cut or 3-lobed leaflets; upper 

 leaves irregularly 3 - o-parted ; the lol)es ovate-lanceolate, pointed, or the ujiper- 

 most undivided ; heads long-peduncled ; chatt' truncate and downy at the tip ; 

 rays linear ( 1' - 2' long), drooping. — Low thickets : common. July - Scjit. 



* * DisL ylubiiiiii , pale hrutniialt : lower leaves S-parted: recejttade sweet-aanttd. 



2. R. SUbtomentOSa, Pursh. Stem branching above (3° -4° high), 

 downy, as well as the lower side of the ovate or ovate-lanceolate serrate leaves ; 

 heads short-pedunelcd ; chaff downy at the blunt ajjcx. — Prairies, Wisconsin, 

 Illinois, and southward. 



» * * Disk broadly conical, dark purple or hroirii : leaves undivided, except Xo. 3. 



3. R. triloba, L. Hairy, biennial, much branched (2° - 5° high), the 

 branches slender and spreading ; upper leaves ovate-lanceolate, sparingly toothed, 

 the loivcj- 3-lobtd, tapering at the base, co«yst//y-.s«Ta<e (those from the root pin- 

 nately parted or undivided) ; ixiys 8, oval or ohlony ; chaff of the blaek-jjurjde 

 disk smooth, awned. — Dry soil, Pemi. to Illinois, and southward. Aug. — 

 Heads small, but numerous and showy. 



4. R. specibsa, Wenderoth. Kou^hisb-liairy ( 1° - 2° high), bninehed ; 

 the branches upright, elongated and naked above, terminated by single large 

 lieads ; leaves lanceolate or orate-lanccolate, pointed at both ends, petiulid, 3 - b-nerved 

 coarselij and uneqwdlif toothed or incised ; involucre nuieli shorter than the numer- 

 ous elongati'd (I'-U') rays ; chaff of the dark purple disk acutisb, smooth. — 

 Dry soil, W. Penn. to Ohio and Virginia. July. 



5. R. fiilgida, Ait. IlHiry, the branches naked at the summit and bear- 

 ing single heads ; leaves spatulate-ol>lonfj or lanceolate, por^/^ clas])imj, triplc-iierved, 

 the upper entire, mosdy obtuse ; rays about 12, equalling or exceeding the involucre ; 

 chaff of the dark purple disk nearly smooth and blunt. — Dry soil, Pennsyl- 

 vania to Kentucky and southward. — Variable, l°-3° high: the rays orange- 

 yellow. Nearly ap])roachcs the next. 



C. R. hirta, L. Very rough and bristly-hairy throughout ; stems simiile 

 or branched near the base, stout (l°-2° high), naked above, bearing single 

 large heads ; leans tiearli/ entire ; the upper oblon(j or lanceolate, sessile; the lower 

 spatulatc, tri[)le-ncrved, petioU-d ; rays (about 14) more or less exceeding the 

 involucre ; chaff of the dull brown disk hairy at the Up, acutish. — Dry soil, W. 

 New York to Wisconsin and southward. Now common eastward, as a weed 

 in meadows, of recent introduction, with clover-seed from the West June- 

 Aog. 



