40S COMPOSITE. Senecio. 



of numerous slender capillary bristles. — Mostly herbs, of various habit. Leaves altemate. 

 Heads corymbose or paniculate. Flowers yellow. 



Of this difficult genus, six hundred species are described by De Candolle, 



1. Senecio vulgaris, Linn. ~ Common Groundsel. 



Annual ; leaves pinnatifid, toothed, clasping, the lower ones tapering into petioles ; heads 

 in a loose corymb, discoid, nodding ; calyculate scales much shorter than the involucre. — 

 Linn. sp. 2. p. 867 ; Engl. hot. t. 747 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 528 ; Bigel.fl. Bost. p. 307 ; Torr. 

 compend. p. 305 ; Beck, hot. p. 201 ; Hook.fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 331 ; DC. prodr. 6, p. 341 ; 

 Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 2. p. 437. 



Plant about a foot high, more or less branching, smooth or a little woolly. Leaves 2 — 3 

 inches long, deeply pinnatifid with oblong toothed or serrated lobes. Heads about one-third 

 of an inch long. Calyculate scales of the involucre about 10, blackish at the tip. Flowers 

 yellow. Achenia minutely pubescent. Pappus copious. 



Waste places, road-sides, etc. Long Island. Introduced from Europe. June - October. 



2. Senecio aureus, Linn. Life-root. Squaw-weed. 



Smooth, or somewhat woolly when young ; radical leaves orbicular or roundish-ovate, 

 mostly cordate, crenate-serrate, petioled ; the cauline lyrate-pinnatifid, sessile or partly 

 clasping ; corymb somewhat umbellate ; rays 8 - 12. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 870 ; Michx. fl. 2. 

 p. 120 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 530 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 331 ; Bigel.fl. Bost. p. 307 ; Hook.fl. Bor-Am. 

 1. p. 333 ; Beck, hot. p. 200 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 496 ; DC. prodr. 6. p. 432 ; Torr. ^ 

 Gr. fl. N. Am. 2. p. 442. 



var. obovatus : radical leaves varying from roundish-obovate to oblong-spatulate. Torr. 4* 

 Gr. I. c. S. obovatus, Muhl. in Willd. sp. 3. p. 1999 ; Pursh, I. c. ; Ell. I. c; Beck, I. c; 

 Darlingt. I. c. ; DC. I. c. 



var. BalsamitcB : radical leaves oval, oblong, or spatulate and lanceolate, crenate or toothed, 

 sometimes lyrate-incised. Torr. ^ Gr. I. c. S. Balsamitae, Muhl. in Willd. sp. I. c. ; Pursh. 

 I. c. ; Beck, I. c. ; Darlingt. I. c. ; DC. I. c. 



Perennial. Stem 1-2 feet high, branched above, often clothed with a loose cotton-like 

 tomentum, especially when young, and about the insertion of the leaves. Radical leaves 

 1-3 inches long and 1 - 2i inches wide, entire, with the petioles 2-6 inches in length ; 

 in the two varieties, smaller and much narrower. Heads nearly half an inch long, numerous, 

 on long slender peduncles. Involucre ovate-cylindrical, scarcely calyculate, woolly at the 

 base : scales lanceolate, often purplish. Rays and disk bright yellow. Achenia smooth, or 

 minutely hairy on the angles. 



Moist meadows, banks of rivulets, etc. ; the variety obovatus in rather dry places ; and var. 

 BalsamitcB, in fields and meadows. April - June. A most variable species, but the forms 

 here described, although very dissimilar in their extreme states, most certainly pass into each 

 other. 



