HIERACIUM. LXXV. COMPOSITE. 359 



77. LACTUCA. 



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 

 /anceolate, entire, sessile ; hds. 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 612' long, commonly deeply runcinate, often narrow-lanceolate, 

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

 compressed, about the length of the beak. July, Aug. 



0. inlcgrifolia (L. integrifolia. Bw.) Lvs. nearly all undivided, lanceolate, 

 sessile, the lowest often sagittate at base. 



y. sanguinarea (L. sanguinarea. Bio.} 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 (capitatd) is so abunaai.t 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. J 



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 cyanic flowers. 



1. M. ACUMINATUM. DC. (Sonchus acuminatus. Willd.) 



Radical Ivs. subruncinate ; cauline ones ovate, 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 

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

 aate achenia. Aug. Sept. 



2. M. LEUCOPH.EUM. 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' 

 i'ong, 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]oose, 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 4r-S' long, variable in form. 

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



79. HIERACIUM. TounA 



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



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

 31 



