184 COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 



2. EJLEPHANTOPUS, L. ELEPHANT'S-FOOT. 



Heads 3 - 5-flowered, clustered into a compound head : flowers perfect. Invo- 

 lucre narrow, flattened, of 8 oblong dry scales. Achenia many-ribbed. Pappua 

 of stout bristles, chaffy-dilated at the base. Perennials, with alternate leaves 

 and purplish flowers. (Name composed of cAe^crr, elephant, and TTOUS, foot.} 



1. E. Carol illin mis, Willd. Somewhat hairy, corymbose, leafy; 

 leaves ovate-oblong, thin. Dry soil, Pennsylvania and southward. 



3. SCLEROLEPIS, Cass. SCLEROLEPIS. 



Head many-flowered : flowers perfect. Scales of the involucre linear, equal, 

 in 1-2 rows. Corolla 5-toothed. Achenia 5-angled. Pappus a single row of 

 almost horny oval and obtuse scales. A smooth aquatic perennial, with simple 

 stems, rooting at the base, bearing linear entire leaves in whorls of 5 or 6, and 

 terminated by a head of flesh-colored flowers. (Name from cncXi/pos, hard, and 

 Xewi's, a scale, alluding to the pappus.) 



1. S verticillata, Cass. Pine' barrens, New Jersey and southward. 

 Aug. 



4. LI AT HIS, Schreb. BUTTON SNAKEROOT. BLAZING-STAR. 



Head several - many-flowered : flowers perfect. Scales of the involucre im- 

 bricated, appressed. Receptacle naked. Corolla 5-lobed. Achenia slender, 

 tapering to the base, about 10-ribbed. Pappus of 15-40 capillary bristles, 

 which are manifestly plumose, or only barbellate. Perennial herbs, often 

 resinous-dotted, with rigid alternate entire leaves, and heads of handsome rose- 

 purple flowers, spicate, racemose, or panicled-cymosc, appearing late in summer 

 or in autumn. (Derivation of the name unknown.) 



$ 1. Stem usually wand-like and simple, from a globular or roundish corm or tuber 

 (which is impregnated with resinous matter), very leafy: leaves narrow or grass-like, 

 l-5-nerved: heads spicate or racemed: involucre well imbricated: lobes of the 

 corolla long and slender. 



* Pappus very plumose ; scales of the 5-flowered involucre with ovate or lanceolate 



spreading petal-like (purple or sometimes white] tips, exceeding the flowers. 



1. l* elegclllS, Willd. Stem (3 -5 high) and involucre hairy; leaves 

 short and spreading; spike or raceme compact (1 long). Ban-en soil, Vir- 

 ginia and southward. 



# # Pappus very plumose : scales of the cylindrical many-flowered involucre imbri- 



cated in many rows, the tips rigid, not petal-like : corolla hairy within. 



2. I* squarrdsa, Willd. (BLAZING-STAR, &c.) Often hairy (l-3 

 high) ; leaves linear, elongated ; heads few (!' long) ; scales of the involucre mostly 

 with elongated and leaf-like spreading tips. Dry soil, Pennsylvania to Illinois 

 and southward. 



3. Lu cylindracea, Michx. Commonly smooth (6' -18' high) ; leaves 

 linear ; heads few (' - f ' long) ; scales of the involucre all with short and rounded 

 appressed tips. Dry open places, Niagara Falls to Wisconsin, and south westward. 



