LiATRis. COMPOSITiE. 325 



2. LiATRis spicATA, WUld. (Plate XL VII.) Tall Button- Snakeroot. 



Smooth ; stem strict, very leafy ; leaves linear, acute, often ciliate towards the base ; the 

 upper ones very short, often subulate ; the lowermost elongated, 3 - 5-nerved ; heads about 

 9 - 13-flowered, sessile, in a dense elongated spike ; involucre cylindrical-campanulate, obtuse 

 at the base ; the numerous scales appressed, resinous, punctate, and with narrow scarious 

 (purplish) margins, obtuse ; inner ones oblong ; exterior oval or ovate or roundish, short ; 

 achenia hairy; pappus densely barbellate. — WUld. sp. 3. p. 1636; Bot. mag. 1411 ; Ell. 

 sk. 2. p. 273 ; Brit.fl. gard. t. 49 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 131 ; Torr. compend. 3. p. 282 ; Beck, 

 bot. p. 175 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 448 ; DC. prodr. 5. p. 130 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 2. 

 p. 73. L. macrostachya, Michx.fl. 2. p. 91 ; Pursh,fi. 2. p. 507. Serratula spicata, Linn, 

 sp. 2. p. 819 ; Andr. hot. rep. t. 401. 



Stem 3-5 feet high. Leaves extremely numerous, erect, more or less hairy on the nerves 

 underneath, strongly punctate ; those of the stem about 2 lines wide and 3-6 inches long, 

 gradually diminishing in length upward, till they are only about an inch long ; radical ones 

 about a foot in length and 3-4 lines wide, tapering at the base into a long slender petiole. 

 Spikes 6-18 inches long ; the heads about 8 lines long : lower bracts longer, the upper 

 shorter than the heads. Flowers bright purple. Corolla slightly sprinkled with resinous 

 dots ; the lobes smooth inside. Achenia about the length of the pappus. 



Borders of a swamp on Staten Island, about three miles from the Quarantine. Fl. August. 

 The root of this plant is a popular medicine, being employed as a tonic and diuretic. It is 

 one of the medicinal articles sold by the Shakers. 



3. LiATRis scARiosA, WUld. Lar gc-jlowered Button- Snakeroot. 



Stem a little pubescent ; leaves lanceolate, pubescent or smooth ; radical ones obovate- 

 oblong, tapering into a petiole ; heads (very large) racemose or spicate, globose, 20 - 40- 

 flowered ; scales of the involucre very numerous, obovate or spatulate, very obtuse, often 

 punctate, with more or less ciliate scarious often denticulate and colored margins, the lower 

 ones sometimes a httle spreading or squarrose, the lowest bracteolate ; achenia hairy or villous ; 

 pappus plumose-barbellate. — Willd. sp. 3. p. 1635 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 281 ; Bot. mag. t. 1709 ; 

 Brit. jl. gard. t. 87 ; Bot. reg. t. 590 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 293 ; Torr. compend. p. 282 ; 

 Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 302 ; Beck, bot. p. 175 ; Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 2. p. 75. L. 

 squarrulosa, aspera and sphaaroidea, Michx. fl. 2. p. 92. L. scariosa and sphaeroidea, DC. 

 prodr. 5. p. 129 ^ 130. L. heterophylla, Nutt. gen. 2. p. 131. Serratula scariosa, Linn, 

 sp. 2. p. 818. 



Stem 2-5 feet high, stout, striate. Stem-leaves 2-4 hnes wide, the little impressed dots 

 often so slight as to be almost imperceptible, at other times quite distinct, especially when the 

 leaves are quite smooth ; radical leaves often an inch or more in breadth. Heads varying 

 from few to 20 or more, usually on very distinct pedicels, but sometimes nearly sessile. When 



