COMl*OSIT>i:. (cOMrOSITK FAMILY.) 203 



1. H. scabiosaeus, L'Hcr. Somewhat floccnlcnt-wooUy when young 

 (l°-3° hi^h) ; leaves 1 -2-i)inn:Uoly pnrtod into linear or ol)lon{r lobes ; scales 

 of the involucre roundish, nearly all whitish. — Sandy liarrcns, Illinois and 

 southward. May, June. 



45^. ACTINijLLA, Pers., Nutt. Actinkli.a. 



Heads niany-flowcrcd, radiate ; the rays several, wcd;j;c-()l)lon<r, S-lobed at the 

 npcx or 3-toothed, pistillate. Scales of the hemispherical involucre ovate or 

 lanceolate, membranaceous or coriaceous, nearly equal, apprcsscd in 2 or .3 

 ranks, little shorter than the disk. Receptacle hemispherical or conical, naked. 

 Achenia top-shaped, densely silky-villons. Pappus of 5 or more ovate or lance- 

 olate very thin chaffy scales. — Low herbs, with narrow leaves, dotted or sprin- 

 kled with resinous atoms as in the next genus; the solitary heads terminating 

 acapes or slender naked peduncles ; flowers yellow. — Natives of the Western 

 plains, &c., and barely entering our borders. (Name a diminutive of ylrt/nea, 

 from aKTis, ray.) 



1. A. seap6sa, Nutt., var. glabra. Tufted; leaves crowded on the 

 summit of woolly rootstocks, linear or somewhat spatulate, tbickish, sparingly 

 silkj'-hairy, becoming glabrous ; scape (3' -9' high) and involucre more woolly, 

 the scales ovate and obtuse ; chaffy scales of the pappus ovate, awnless. — 

 Joliet, Illinois, on an Indian mound [Dr. Scammon, W. Doott), and westward. 



46. HELENIUM, L. Sneeze-weed. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; the spreading wedge-shaped rays .several, 3- 

 5-clcft at the summit, fertile. Involucre small, refl(;?;ed, the scales linear or 

 nwl-shaped. Receptacle globose or oblong, naked. Achenia top-shaped, ribbed. 

 Pappus of 5-8 thin and 1 -nerved chafl[\- scales, the nerve usually extended into 

 a bristle or point. — Erect, branching herbs, with alternate leaves deeurrent on 

 the angled stem and branches, which are terminated by single or corymbed 

 (yellow, rarely purple) heads ; often sprinkled with bitter and aromatic resin- 

 ous globules. (Named after Helen, the wife of Menelaus.) 



1. H. autumnkle, L. (Sxeeze-weed.) Nearly smooth, perennial ; 

 leaves lanceolate, toothed ; rays longer than the globular-disk. — Alluvial river- 

 banks : common (except in New England). Sept. — Plant 1°-^"^ high, bitter: 

 the corymbed heads showy. 



47. LEPTOPODA, Nutt. Leptopoda. . 



Rays neutral. Otherwise nearly as in Heleuium. — In the true species (of 

 which L. piihfiula and A. hrrrifJiit may be found in S. Vir;:inia) the stems are 

 simple, and naked above, like a long peduncle, and bearing a single head 

 (whence the name, from XfTrnJs, slivdr, and novs. ftmf) ; but the following is 

 leafy to the fop, and branched ; and were better restored to Heleuium. 



1. L. brach^poda, Ton-. & Gr. Stem corymbed at the snnnnit (l°-4<' 

 high); leaves oblou^i-laneeolate, deeurrent on the sten» ; disk ^'lol)nlur, brown- 

 ish ; rays (J^'- 3' I'J'ifi) yellow, or in one variety brownish-purple, sometimes 

 with an imperfect style. — Damp soil, from Illinois southward. June -Aug. 



