326 LXXV. COMPOSITE. ERIGERON. 



purplish, channeled, simple, smooth, branching above into a large, level-topped, 

 compound corymb of showy flowers. Leaves narrow, entire, 46' in length, 

 those of the branchlets smaller. Rays about 12, white. Disk yellow. Aug. Sept. 

 /?. amygdalinus. St. roughish above, green ; branches of the corymb divaricate; 

 Ivs. broader. Gluite different in aspect from variety a. Common. 



3. D. CORNIFOLIUS. Less. (Aster cornifolius. Muhl.} 



St. smooth below, scabrous and slightly paniculate above, few-flowered ; 

 Ivs. elliptical, acuminate, entire, tapering to the base, with scattered hairs, 

 rough-edged ; invol. scales imbricate, shorter than the disk. Grows in woods, 

 N. and Mid. States. Whole plant nearly smooth, erect, 1 2f high. Leaves 

 acute at the base, paler beneath, on very short stalks. Flowers few, large ; 

 outer scales very short. Rays about 10, white. July, Aug. 



13. ERIGfiRON. 



Gr. rjp, the spring, yspwv, an old man ; because it is hoary early in the season. 



Heads many-flowered, subhemispherical ; ray-flowers 9 very nu- 

 merous (40 200), narrow, linear ; flowers of the disk $ ; receptacle 

 flat, naked ; involucre nearly in 1 row ; pappus generally simple. 

 Herbs with alternate leaves. Rays cyanic. 



Rays longer than the involucre. Mostly i\.. 



1. E. BELLIDIFOLIUM. Muhl. (E. pulchellum. MX.} Robin's Plantain. 

 Hirsute ; radical Ivs. obovate, obtuse, subserrate ; stem Ivs. remote, mostly 



entire, lance-oblong, acute, clasping ; Ads. 3 7, in a close, terminal corymb ; 

 rays- nearly twice longer than the involucre, linear-spatulate. Dry fields and 

 thickets, U. S. and Can. Stem erect, simple, sometimes stoliniierous, \ 2f 

 high. Leaves 2 3' by 6 9", mostly broadest above the middle. Rays 60 

 100, bluish (rarely reddish)-purple. This is our earliest species, flowering in 

 May and June. Resembles the following. 



2. E. PHILADELPHICUM. (E. purpureum. Ait.} Narrow-rayed Robin's PI. 

 Pubescent or hirsute ; Ivs. thin, lower spatulate, crenate-dentate, upper ob- 



long-oblanceolate, narrowed to the clasping (sometimes cordate-auriculate) 

 base, subserrate ; hds. few, on long, slender peduncles ; rays very numerous, 

 filiform, more than twice longer than the involucre. Woods and pastures 

 throughout N. Am. Stem slender, 1 3f high. Leaves 2 4' by 6 9", lower 

 much attenuated at base, upper acute. Rays 150 200 ! reddish-purple or flesh- 

 colored, nearly as slender as hairs. Jn. Aug. 



(3. 1 Ricardi. Cauline Ivs. cordate-ovate. Meriden, N. H. Richard ! 



y. St. stout, with coarsely serrate leaves. 



3. E. HETEROPHYLLUM. Muhl. (E. annuum. Pers.} Common Fteabane. 

 White-weed. St. hispid with scattered hairs, branching ; Ivs. hirsute, 



coarsely serrate, the lowest ovate, contracted at base into a winged petiole, stem 

 leaves ovate-lanceolate, sessile, acute, the highest lanceolate; rays very numer- 

 ous and narrow. A common weed, in fields and waste grounds, Can. to Penn. 

 and Ky. Stem thick, 2 4f high, striate, terminating in a large, diffuse, co- 

 rymbose panicle of large heads. Rays white or purplish, 100 or more, short. 

 June. Aug. 



4. E. STRIGOSUM. Fleabane. White-weed. Daisy. 



Hairy and strigose ; Ivs. lanceolate, tapering to each end, entire or with a 

 few large teeth in the middle, lower ones 3- veined and petiolate ; panicle co- 

 rymbose ; pappus double. A rough weed in grassy fields, Can. and U. S. Stem 

 about 2f high, slender, furrowed, with close, short, stiff hairs, and bearing a 

 large, loose corymb. Leaves also with close-pressed bristles, sessile. Rays 

 very narrow, white. June Oct. 



(3. (E. integerrifolium. Bw.} St. simple, smooth ; Ivs. entire, pubescent ; fis. 

 corymbed. Rays 100150. ' 



Rays shorter than the involucre. Plants CD or @. 



5. E. DIVARICATUM. Michx. 



Decumbent and diffusely branched, hirsute ; Ivs. linear and subulate; hds. 



