342 LXXV. COMPOSITE. ACHILLEA. 



36. HELENIUM. 



Named for the celebrated Helen, who is said to have availed herself of its cosmetic properties. 



Involucre double, the outer of leafy, narrow scales, the inner chaffy ; 

 rays pistillate ; pappus of several 5-awned, chaffy leaves ; receptacle 

 globose, naked in the disk, and chaffy in the ray only ; ray-flowers 

 half 3-cleft ; seed villose. Lvs. alternate, decurrent. Rays yellow. 



H. AUTUMNALE. American Sneeze-wort. 



Lvs. lanceolate-serrate, smooth or slightly pubescent, decurrent ; /s. loose- 

 ly corymbose. 1J. In damp places. Stem 2 3f high, branching, strongly 

 winged by the decurrent leaves. Leaves tapering to each end or elliptic-lance- 

 olate, more or less deeply serrate. Flowers large, numerous, terminal, with 

 drooping rays, each ending in 3 obtuse teeth, and longer than the large, globose 

 disk. The plant is very bitter. Aug. 



/?. canaliculatum. T. & G. (H. canaliculatum. Lam.} Rays concave, ca- 

 naliculate or 3-furrowed. 



37. ANTHEMIS. 



Involucre hemispherical, with nearly equal scales ; rays. numerous, 

 pistillate ; receptacle chaffy, convex or conic ; achenia crowned with 

 a slight border. European herbs, with much divided leaves. 



1. A. ARVENSIS. Corn Chamomile. 



St. erect, hairy ; Ivs. bipinnatifid, hairy and canescent, segments linear- 

 lanceolate; ach. crowned with a narrow margin; chaff of the receptacle lanceo- 

 late, cuspidate, longer than the flowers. (g) Grows in dry, cultivated fields. A 

 pilose, inodorous plant, somewhat naturalized in the Northern States. Stems 

 diffusely branching, 815' high. Heads large, solitary on the leafless, downy 

 summits of the branches. Disk yellow, rays white. July. 



2. A. NOBILIS. Chamomile. St. prostrate, branching from the base, woolly ; 

 Ivs. decompound-pinnatifid, segments linear, subulate ; chaff scarions, lanceolate, 

 scarcely as long as the flowers. 7J_ Native of Britain and other parts of Europe. 

 Grows wild occasionally in fields, and is cultivated in gardens. The strong and 

 agreeable scent of the chamomile is well known, also its tonic and anodyne 

 qualities, which chiefly reside in the flowers. July Sept. 



38. MARUTA. Less. 



Involucre hemispherical, imbricated ; rays neutral ; disk perfect ; 

 receptacle conical, chaffy (at least at the summit) ; pappus ; anche- 

 nia smooth. European Jierbs, with alternate, much divided leaves. 



M. COTULA. DC. (Anthemis. Linn.} May-weed. 



St. erect, nearly smooth ; Ivs. bipinnatifid, segments linear-subulate ; chaff 

 bristly, shorter than the flowers. Naturalized in all waste places, in hard, 

 dry soils, especially by roadsides, in patches of great extent, presenting almost 

 a uniform whitish surface when in blossom. Stem branching, diffuse, a foot 

 high, with alternate leaves divided and subdived into a multitude of segments. 

 Flowers solitary, on terminal, striated stalks. The plant is ill-scented. Lin- 

 naeus says it is grateful to toads, drives away fleas, and is annoying to flies. 

 June Sept. 



39. ACHILLEA. 



Named after Achilles, a disciple of Chiron, who first used the plant. 



Involucre ovoid, of unequal, imbricated scales; rays 5 10, short, 

 pistillate ; receptacle flat, chaffy ; achenia without a pappus. % Eu- 

 ropean herbs, with much divided, alternate leaves. 



1. A. MILLEFOLIUM. Millfoil. Yarrow. 



Lvs. bipinnatifid, with linear, dentate, mucronate segments ; invol and st. 

 furrowed. The yarrow abounds in fields, pastures, &c., N. Eng. to Oregon and 

 Arc. Am. It is called also millfoil, from its leaves being cut and parted into so 



