COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 263 



i. H. SCabioseeilS, L'Her. Somewhat flocculent-woolly when young 

 (l-3 high) ; leaves 1 -2-pinnately parted into linear or oblong lobes ; scales 

 of the involucre roundish, nearly all whitish. Sandy barrens, Illinois and 

 southward. May, June. 



45 . ACTINELLA, Pers., Nutt. ACTINELLA. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; the rays several, wedge-oblong, 3-lobed at the 

 apex or 3-toothed, pistillate. Scales of the hemispherical involucre ovate or 

 lanceolate, membranaceous or coriaceous, nearly equal, appressed in 2 or 3 

 ranks, little shorter than the disk. Receptacle hemispherical or conical, naked. 

 Achenia top-shaped, densely silky- villous. Pappus of 5 or more ovate or lance- 

 olate very thin chaffy scales. Low herbs, with narrow leaves, dotted or sprin- 

 kled with resinous atoms as in the next genus ; the solitary heads terminating 

 scapes or slender naked peduncles ; flowers yellow. Natives of the Western 

 plains, &c., and barely entering our borders. (Name a diminutive of Actinea, 

 from a/my, ray.) 



1. A. scaposa, Nutt., var. glabra. Tufted; leaves crowded on the 

 summit of woolly rootstocks, linear or somewhat spatulate, thickish, sparingly 

 silky-hairy, becoming glabrous ; scape (3' -9' high) and involucre more woolly, 

 the scales ovate and obtuse ; chaffy scales of the pappus ovate, awnless. 

 Joliet, Illinois, on an Indian mound (Dr. Scammon, W. Boott), and westward. 



46. HELENIUM, L. SNEEZE-WEED. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; the spreading wedge-shaped rays several, 3 - 

 5-cleft at the summit, fertile. Involucre small, reflexed, the scales linear or 

 awl-shaped. Receptacle globose or oblong, naked. Achenia top-shaped, ribbed. 

 Pappus of 5-8 thin and 1 -nerved chaffy scales, the nerve usually extended into 

 a bristle or point. Erect, branching herbs, with alternate leaves decurrent on 

 the angled stem and branches, which are terminated by single or corymbed 

 (yellow, rarely purple) heads ; often sprinkled with bitter and aromatic resin- 

 ous globules. (Named after Helen, the wife of Menelaus.) 



1. H. autumnale, L. (SNEEZE-WEED.) Nearly smooth, perennial ; 

 leaves lanceolate, toothed ; rays longer than the globular-disk. Alluvial river- 

 banks : common (except in New England). Sept. Plant l-3 high, bitter: 

 the corymbed heads showy. 



47. LEPTOPODA, Nutt. LEPTOPODA. 



Rays neutral. Otherwise nearly as in Helenium. In the true species (of 

 which L. puberula and L. brevifolia may be found in S. Virginia) the stems are 

 simple, and naked above, like a long peduncle, and bearing a single head 

 (whence the name, from XCTTTOS, slender, and irovs,foot) ; but the following is 

 leafy to the top, and branched ; and were better restored to Helenium. 



1. L. brachtfpoda, Torr. & Gr. Stem corymbed at the summit (l-4 

 high); leaves oblong-lanceolate, decurrent on the stem; disk globular, brown- 

 ish; rays ('-' long) yellow, or in one variety brownish-purple, sometimes 

 with an imperfect style. Damp soil, from Illinois southward. June - Aug. 



