428 CUMPOSIT.E. Sttphaiwmeiia. 



which are ratlier shorter than the minutely scabrous akenes, naked below, and 

 sparingly baibellate-pluniose towards tlie summit. — Ilemiptilium Schottii, Gray, 

 in Bot. Mex. i>ound. 105. 



Oil the Gila, Schott, tlicreloie beyond tlie limits ol" Califoinia, but likely to occur on the 

 ColoiHilo. 



2. S. pentachaeta, Kutun. A loot high, probably annual, excessively brancheil, 

 paniculate : lower leaves linear and sometimes runciiiate-toothed ; upper reduced to 

 minute scale like bracts : heails 3 or 4 lines long, 5-rtowered : involucre of about 5 

 principal scales : akenes oblongdinear, columnar, truncate at both ends, slightly 

 narrowed only at ba.se, rugosci-tuliercled betweiai the angles : pappus ol" T) slender 

 rigid bristles, loiigca- than the akene, sparingly ])ectinate at the somewhat dilated 

 base, thence nakeil to the middli',, above rather copiously jilumose. — ]>ot. King 

 Exp. I'J'J, t. 20. 



Tnickee anil Humboldt Valleys, Nevada {JFatson): piolmbly reaching the borders of the State. 

 Perhaps a form of the next, with a diminished number of bristles to the pap^ms. 



3. S. exigua, Nutt. A foot or two high, paniculattdy and difTusely much 

 branchetl liuui an amiual ruot : radical and lower leaves linear or narrowly lanceo- 

 late, runcinate-pinnatihd or toothed ; the ujiper slender and mostly entire exce|)t at 

 the partly clasiiing base ; tho.se of the branchlets reduced to minute and obtu.se 

 bracts : heads 3 to 5 lines long, 3- U-Uoweretl : akenes and jtappus as -in the preced- 

 ing, but the latter of more numerous bristles, "usually 3 from each angle of the 

 akene, and with their slightly dilated bases commonly united." — Eaton, 1. c. 1U8, 

 t. 20, fig. 6, 7. Jlemipiilium Bi(jelovii, Gray, 1. c. 



Near Fort Mohave {Cooper), to Sierra Co. (Lemmun), and Carson City {Anderson, &c.) ; thence 

 through Nevada and New ilexico to the borders of Texas. 



§ 2. Heads mostli/ small: bristles of the pappus \2 to 25, slender and plumose 

 throuff/iout : receplade completely naked. — SriiPHANOMEiiiA proper. 



* Involucre narrow, []-H- flowered, most commonly 6-Jiowered, its outer scales all 

 short and catyculatc. : branches striate, slender and naked; their leaves vsnally 

 reduced to small bracts : tower leaves linear ; the radical ones yenerally runcinate- 

 pinnatijid. 



4. S. paniculata, Nutt. Stem erect from an annual root, 1| to 3 feet high, 

 with rather simple ascending virgate branches, along which the short-pedicelled 

 heads are commonly racemose-panicled : involucre 3 or 4 lines long : akenes mure 

 or less rugose or tubercidate between the narrow ribs. — Eaton, 1. c. iig. 5. S. vir- 

 (jata, T>eiith. ]>ot. Suljih. 32. 



Hills and plains ( common through the State and in Nevada. There are two forms as to the 

 akenes; one shorter and thicker, with narrowed base, and usually strong and numerous rugosities 

 between the distant ribs, as figured by Prof. Eaton in the Botany of King's exploration : this is 

 S. vircjata, Benth., and is the common Californian form, with the heads disposed to be si)icate- 

 racemose along the rather rigid virgate (sometimes .somewhat pubescent) branches. The other 

 form has narrower akenes, like those of S. cxiyua, with slight distinct tubercles in place of the 

 strong rugosities ; and the heads are more panicled. Ai)parently these characters do not always 

 coincide or hold out. ' 



5. S. minor, Nutt. Low : stems paniculately and loosely much branched from 

 a perennial root, a span to a foot or more high ; tlio slender and somewhat rush like 

 branches terminated by the heads : involucre 4 to G lines long : akenes with broad 

 and strong (at length minutely scabrous) ribs having narrow grooves between, 

 columnar or slightly narrowed at the summit. — aS". 7ninor, heterophylla, tk rnncinata, 

 Nutt. 1. c. Prcnanthes (!) tenuifolia, Torr. Lyi/odesmia minor, Hook. Fl. i. 205, 

 t. 103. Jamesia. paucljhra, Nees in Neu-wied, Trav. 



Dry jdains, along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada {Bolanda; Torrey) to Oivgon and to 

 the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. A New Mexican form of the .species has narrower, 

 almost smooth, and more tapering akenes. 



