362 LXXV. COMPOSITE. TARAXACUM. 



reduced to the minute, subulate bracts ; hds. clustered, in a long, compound, 

 virgate, somewhat secund raceme ; invol. with about 8 scales and 10 flowers ; 

 pappus straw-colored. A remarkably slender, wand-like species, in sandy 

 soils, N. J. to Flor. Stem 2 41" high, racemose half its length. Leaves gradu- 

 ally reduced and simplified from the base upward, as in most of the species. 

 Sept. Oct. 



$ Heads nodding or erect, hairy. Leaves undivided. 



7. N. RACEMOSUS. Hook. '(Prenanthes. MX. Harpalyce. Don.'} 

 Glabrous, simple, slender ; Ivs. all undivided, lower oval-lanceolate, sharp- 

 ly denticulate, petiolate, upper ovate-lanceolate, subclasping, entire; hds. in 

 nodding fascicles, arranged in a long, interruptedly spicate panicle ; invol. of 

 89 scales, with 9 12 flowers ; pappus straw-color. N. J., N. W. States and 

 Can. Stem 2 4f high. Flowers pale red-purple. 



8. T. & G. Lvs. deeply and irregularly pinnatifid. 



8. N. CREPIDINEUS. DC. (Prenanthes crepidinea. Michx.) 



Nearly glabrous ;* st. tall, stout, corymbosely paniculate ; Ivs. large, irreg- 

 ularly toothed, petioles winged, lower ones oblong-ovate, somewhat hastate or 



high. Leaves 4 12' by 2J 7', obtuse or acute. Heads large but not nume- 

 rous, with brown scales and yellowish flowers. Aug. Oct. 



9. N. ASPER. T. & G. (N. Illinoensis. DC. Prenanthes asper. Michx. 



Choudrilla 111. Poir.} St. strict, simple, scabrous; Ivs. simple, scabrous- 

 pubescent, dentate, lower ones oblong-oval, on margined petioles, upper lance- 

 oblong and lance-linear, subentire, sessile ; hds. erect, in small fascicles, in a 

 slender, elongated, compound raceme ; invol. strongly hirsute, of 710 scales 

 and with 11 14 flowers ; pappus straw-color. Dry prairies and barrens, West- 

 ern States, Dr. Skinner ! common ! Stem 2 4f high, nearly smooth. Leaves 

 3 5' long, pubescent or glabrous. Raceme 1 2f long. Fls. ochroleucous. Sept. 



81. TROXIMON. Nutt. 

 Gr. rpo(po , eatable ; applied to this genus with little propriety. 



Heads many-flowered ; involucre campanulate, scales loosely imbri- 

 cate, lance-ovate, membranaceous, in 2 3 rows ; achenia oblong- 

 linear, compressed, glabrous, not rostrate ; pappus setaceous, copious, 

 white. %- Lvs. all radical. Scape bearing a single, large, showy head 

 with yellow flowers. 



T. CUSPIDATUM. Ph. (T. marginatum. Nutt.} 



Rt. fusiform ; Ivs. linear-lanceolate, acuminate, margins tomentose, often 

 undulate ; scales acuminate-cuspidate, erect, smooth, in 2 series, the outer nearly 

 equal to the inner. Prairies, Wis., Lapham, 111., Mead, W. to the Rocky Mts., 

 Nuttall. Apr. Jn. 



82. TARAXACUM. Desf. 



Gr. rapcLKTiKOS, cathartic ; on account of its once celebrated medicinal properties. 



Involucre double, the outer of small scales much shorter than the 

 inner, appressed row ; receptacle naked ; achenia produced into a 

 long beak crowned with the copious, white, capillary pappus. Acau- 

 lescent herbs, with runcinate leaves. 



T. DENS-LEONIS. Less. (Leontodon Taraxacum. Linn.} Dandelion. 



Outer scales of the involucre reflexed ; Ivs. runcinate, smooth, dentate. 

 1}. In all open situations, blossoming at all seasons except winter. Leaves all 

 radical, and examples of that peculiar form termed runcinate, that is, re-unci- 

 nate, the teeth or claws inclining backwards towards the base of the leaf rather 

 than the summit. Scape hollow, round, bearing a single yellow head. After 

 the flower is closed and decayed, the scape rises higher and bears a head of 



