COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 205 



-- -H LCC.V&I broad, not large, sessile or short-petioled, coarsely and sharply serrate, 

 copiously Jaither-veined ; veinlets conspicuously reticulated: heads small: rays short. 



22. S. altcssima, L. Rough-hairy, especially the stem (2 -7 high) ; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, elliptical or oblong, often thickish and very rugose ; racemes parii- 

 cled, spreading ; scales of the involucre linear ; rays 6 - 9 ; the disk-flowers 4-7. 

 Borders of fields and copses ; very common, presenting a great variety of 

 forms : but instead of the tallest, as its name denotes, it is usually one of the 

 lowest of the common Golden-rods. 



23. S. ii S in i To I ia, Muhl. Stem smooth, the branches hairy; leaves thin, 

 ellipticaJ -ovate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed, tapering to the base, loosely veined, be- 

 set with soft hairs beneath ; racemes panicled, recurved-spreading ; scales of the 

 involucre lanceolate-oblong ; rays about 4. Low copses ; common. Too 

 near the last ; distinguished only by its smooth stem and thin larger leaves. 



24. S. I>riiimii6ii<lii, Torr. & Gr. Stem (l-3 high) and lower sur- 

 face of the broadly ovate or oval somewhat triple-ribbed leaves minutely velvety-pubes- 

 cent, some of the leaves almost entire ; racemes panicled, short ; scales of the 

 involucre oblong, obtuse; rays 4 or 5. Rocks, Illinois opposite St. Louis, and 

 gouthwestward. 



- - -*- Leaves entire or nearly so, thickish, reticulate-veiny, but the veins obscure. 



25. S. pilosa, Walt. Stem stout, upright (3 -7 high), clothed with spread- 

 ing hairs, often panicled at the summit ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, roughish, hairy 

 beneath, at least. on the midrib, serrulate, the upper ovate-lanceolate or oblong 

 and entire, closely sessile ; racemes many, recurved, crowded in a dense pyram- 

 idal panicle; rays 7-10, very short. Low grounds, pine barrens of New 

 Jersey to Virginia, and southward. 



26. S. odor a, Ait. (SWEET GOLDEN-ROD.) Smooth or nearly so through 

 out; stem slender (2 -3 high), often reclined ; leaves linear-lanceolate, entire, shin 

 ing, pellucid-dotted ; racemes spreading in a small one-sided panicle; rays 3 -4, 

 rather large. Border of thickets in dry or sandy soil, Vermont and Maine to 

 Kentucky, and southward. The crushed leaves yield a pleasant anisate odor. 

 - - -*- H -i Leaves grayish or hoary, thickish, featker-veined and slightly triple- 

 nerved, obscurely serrate or entire ; heads middle-sized. 



27. S. nemoraliS) Ait. Clothed with a minute and close grayish-hoary 

 (soft or roughish) pubescence; stem simple or corymbed at the summit (^-2^ 

 high) ; leaves oblanceolate or spatulate-oblong, the lower somewhat crcnatC' 

 toothed and tapering into a petiole; racemes numerous, dense, at length re- 

 curved, forming a large and crowded compound raceme or panicle which is 

 usually turned to one side; scales of the involucre linear-oblong, appressed; 

 rays 6 -9. Dry sterile fields; very common. In the "West occur less hoary 

 and rougher forms. ^ &d J * //., f> V 



} % * %. # %: Hea Is in one-sided spreading or recurved racemes, forming an ample. 



panicle : leaves plainly 3-ribbed, or triple-ribbed. 



*- Scales of the involucre thickish and rigid, closely imbricated, with somewhat green~ 

 ish tips or midrib : leaves riqid, smooth and shining. 



28. S. Shortii, Torr. & Gr. Stem slender, simple (l-3 high), minute- 

 ly roughish-pubescent ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, the lower sharply serrato 



18 



