UOMPOSITAE (^COMPOSITE FAMILY^ 781 



rather dense cyme; involucre campamdate ; its bracts regularly imbricated and 

 closely appressed, chiefly rounded or obtuse, usually jourple- or violet-tinged ; 

 flowers red-purple; pai^us purple. — Rich dry prairies, s. Ont. and O. to III! 

 and la. 



7. V. missurica Raf. Similar in habit to the preceding; heads 35-r,0- 

 flowered ; involucre ovoid- or subcylindric-campanulate, mostly greenish ; the 

 bracts rather narrow, very numerous, closely appressed, the middle and lower 

 ones acutish ; pappus tawny or with only a slight purple tinge. (V. altissima., 

 var. grandiflora Gray.) — Prairies, i^l«(0 and Mo. to Tex. and Kan. — An 

 obscure species. 



8. V. Baldwini Torr. Tomentulose ; heads small or medium-sized, about 

 30-flowered ; leaves lance-oblong or -ovate ; involucre hoary-tomentose and 

 arachnoid, mostly greenish ; the bracts squarrose, acuminate. — Prairies and 

 barren hills, la. to Kan. and Tex. V. interior Small, though sometimes distin- 

 guishable by its less squarrose mostly purple-tinged involucral bracts, does not 

 appear satisfactorily separable. 



2. ELEPHANTOPUS [VaiU.] L. Elephant's-foot 



Heads discoid, 2-5-flowered, several together clustered into a compound 

 pedunculate head ; flowers perfect. Involucre narrow, flattened, of 8 oblong 

 dry bracts. Achenes 10-ribbed ; pappus of stout bristles, chaffy-dilated at the 

 base. — Perennials, with alternate leaves and purplish flowers. (Name com- 

 posed of iX^cpas, elephant, and Tro^s,foot.) 



* Stem leafy ; upper leaves very like the basal. 



1. E. car(dinianus Willd. Somewhat hairy, corymbose, leafy ; leaves ovate- 

 oblong, thin. — Dry soil, N. J. and Pa. to 111., Kan., and south w. (Mex., W. I.) 



* * Stem scape-like, with a few bract-like leaves or naked. 



2. E. toment5sus L. Somewhat hairy ; basal leaves obovate to narrowly 

 spatulate, silky and prominently veined beneath ; heads large ; pappus-scales 

 attenuate. — Va. to Ky., Ark., and southw. 



3. E. nudatus Gray. Strigose-puberulent ; basal leaves thin, green, spatu- 

 late-obovate or oblanceolate, not prominently veined beneath ; heads smaller • 

 pappus-scales broadly deltoid. — Del. to Ark., and southw. 



3. SCLER6lEPIS Cass. 



Head discoid, many-flowered ; flowers perfect. Involucral bracts linear, 

 equal, in 1 or 2 rows. Receptacle naked. Corolla o-toothed. Achenes o-anuled ; 

 pappus a single row of 5 almost horny oval and obtuse scales. — Smooth peren- 

 nial, with simple stems, rooting at the base, linear entire leaves in whorls of 

 4-6, and a terminal head of flesh-colored flowers in summer. (Name composed 

 of (TKXrjpds, hard, and Xctt/s, a scale, from the pappus. ) 



1. S. unifl5ra (Walt.) BSP. {S. verticillata Cass.) — In water or sandy 

 bogs, Bradford, N. H. {F. T. Lewis) ; pine barrens, from N. J. southw. 



4. EUPAT6RIUM [Tourn.] L. Thoroughwort 



Heads discoid, S-many-flowered ; flowers perfect. Involucre cylindrical or 

 bell-shaped, of more than 4 bracts. Receptacle flat or conical, naked. Corolla 

 5-toothed. Achenes 5-angled ; pappus a single row of slender capillary barely 

 roughish bristles. — Erect perennial herbs, often sprinkled with bitter resinous 

 dots, with generally corymbose heads of white, bluish, or purple blossoms, ap- 

 pearing near the close of summer. (Dedicated to Eupator 3Iithridates, who is 

 said to have used a species of the genus in medicine, "i 



