HIERACIUM. LXXV. COMPOSITE. 359 



77. L ACT tJC A. 



Lat. lac, milk ; from the milky juice in which all the species abound. 

 1. L. ELONGATA. Wild Lettuce. Trumpet Milkweed. 

 Lvs. smooth and pale beneath, lower ones amplexicaul, runcinate, upper 

 lanceolate, entire, sessile ; Us. racemose-paniculate. A common, rank plant, 

 growing in hedges, thickets, &c., where the soil is rich and damp. Stem hol- 

 low, stout, 3 6t' high, often purple, bearing a leafless, elongated, sometimes co- 

 rymbose-spreading panicle of numerous heads of flowers. Leaves very varia- 

 ble, the lower 6 12' long, commonly deeply runcinate, often narrow-lanceolate, 

 with a few narrow-lanceolate divisions. Corollas yellow. Achenia oblong, 

 compressed, about the length 01" the beak. July, Aug. 



(3. inlegrifolia (L. integrifolia. Bw.~) Lvs. nearly all undivided, lanceolate, 

 sessile, the lowest often sagittate at base. 



y. sanguinarea (L. sanguinarea. Bw.~) Lvs. runcinate, amplexicaul, mostly 

 pubescent, glaucous beneath ; fls. purple. Stem 2 3f high, often purple (but 

 this character is not peculiar to this variety). 



2. L. SATIVA. Garden Lettuce. St. corymbose ; Ivs. suborbicular, the cauline 

 ones cordate. The varieties of this exotic are every where well known and 

 cultivated for salad. It is annual, with very smooth, yellowish-green foliage, 

 which in one variety (capitata) is so abundant as to form heads like the cab- 

 bage. Heads numerous, small, with yellowish corollas. The milky juice con- 

 tains opium, and if this salad be eaten too freely, unpleasant narcotic effects are 

 the consequence.*;}: 



78. MULGEDIUM. Cass. 



Lat. mulgeo to milk ; in allusion to the lactescent qualities of the plants. 



Involucre somewhat double, the outer series of scales short and 

 imbricated : receptacle naked, faveolate ; pappus copious, soft, capil- 

 lary, crowning the short-beaked achenia. Lvs. mostly spinulose. Hds. 

 with many yellow or cy&nic flowers. 



1. M. ACUMINA-^M. DC. (Sonchus acuminatus. Wittd.) 



Radical Ivs. subruncinate ; cauline ones oyate, acuminate, petiolate, den- 

 tate; hds. loosely paniculate, on somewhat scaly peduncles. In hedges and 

 thickets, N. Y. to la. ! and S. States. A smooth plant, 3 6f high, with the 

 stem often purplish. Leaves 3 6' long, the lower ones often deltoid-hastate or 

 truncate at the base, sinuate-denticulate, narrowed at base into a winged pe- 

 tiole. Heads small. Peduncles with a few scale-like bracteoles. Scales dark 

 purple, with blue corollas. Pappus white, on the short-beaked, ovate-acumi- 

 nate achenia. Aug. Sept. 



2. M. LEucopHjEUM. DC. (Sonchus floridanus. Ait. Agathyrsus leuco- 

 phaeus. Don.} Lvs. numerous, lyrate-runcinate, coarsely dentate; hds. 



paniculate, on squamose-bracteate peduncles. Moist thickets, N. and W. 

 States. A tall, leafy plant, nearly smooth. Stem 4 lOf high. Leaves 5 12' 

 long, irregularly divided in a runcinate or pinnatifid manner, the segments re- 

 pand-toothed, the radical ones on long stalks, the upper ones sessile, often un- 

 divided. Heads small, with pale blue or yellowish corollas, a tawny- white 

 pappus, and arranged in a long, slender panicle. Aug. Sept. 



3. M. FLORIDANUM. DC. (Agathyrsus. Beck. Sonchus. Linn.} 

 Glabrous ; st. erect, paniculate above, purple or glaucous ; cauline Ivs. 



runcinately pinnate-parted, segments few, sinuate-dentate, upper ones triangu- 

 lar, acute or acuminate ; panicle loose, erect, compound. Western ! and South- 

 ern States, hedges and waste grounds. A handsome plant with a terminal pani- 

 cle of blue flowers. Stem 3 5f high. Leaves 4 8' long, variable in form. 

 Heads small. Rays expanding 9". Jl. Sept. 



79. HIERACIUM. Tourn. 



Gr. lepa, a hawk; supposed to strengthen the vision of birds of prey. 



Involucre more or less imbricated, ovoid, many-flowered ; recepta- 

 31 



