488 THE CHICORY FAMILY. 



A. Virginiciim, Cynthia, or Virginia goat'sbeard {Plate CLXIT), also a 

 perennial, an unusually handsome member of the genus, being large, pro- 

 duces on its branched stem a number of heads of deep, reddish orange 

 flowers, which open when the day is warmest and close at night. But one 

 or two leaves occur on the stem, where they clasp it at the base of the 

 flowering peduncle. In oak-barrens and moist mountainous woods the 

 plant stretches upward sometimes as high as two feet. 



A. dandelion, dwarf dandelion, or goat'sbeard, which through our range 

 occurs from Florida to Maryland, produces a solitary flower-head about an 

 inch in breadth at the end of a long, naked scape. The leaves tufted about 

 its base are spatulate, or linear-lanceolate, dentate, smooth and often glau- 

 cous. As they mature many of them become delicately tinted with purple. 

 An interesting point about the plant is that from the ends of its thread-like 

 stolons it develops small and rounded tubers, 



A. Carolinidnum, Carolina dwarf dandelion, has a range extending from 

 Texas and Florida to Maine and is the tiny, graceful individual so fre- 

 quently seen in sandy soil. Probably more often than not it is mistaken for 

 the ordinary small dandelion. From its tuft of basal leaves arise slender, 

 glabrous or pubescent scapes which bear the flower-heads. As the seeds 

 fall it is noticeable that the thin lanceolate bracts of the involucre become 

 strongly reflexed. 



There is in this genus but one other species, namely Adopogon occiden- 

 tal, an inhabitant of the western prairies. 



FLORIDA LETTUCE. FALSE LETTUCE. 



Lactuca Floridana. 



Flower-heads : growing on slender scaly peduncles in a large, spreading racemose 

 panicle. Involucre : cylindrical, imbricated, the outer row of bracts being irreg- 

 ular and considerably shorter than the others. Rays : squared, and five-toothed 

 at their summits. Stylediranches : '&\q\\A^x. Pappus: white. Leaves: alternate; 

 lyrately pinnatifid, toothed, the terminal lobe being large, taper-pointed and three- 

 angled, very variable; the upjier leaves lanceolate and sessile, thin, smooth above 

 and pubescent along the ribs underneath. Stevi : three to seven feet high 

 branched above as a panicle ; leafy; smooth. 



Perhaps this is not a very attractive plant, but surely it is one which 

 through open, moist places frequently excites our interest enough to make 

 us wonder what it is, and where in the great world of flowers it takes its 

 place. The genus to which it belongs has a milky juice, a fact to which the 

 Latin name is an allusion. Included in it are many species, but mostly their 

 flower-heads are small and the leaves rather coarse-looking. 



