1897 | BRIEFER ARTICLES 51 
Decumbent, forming large mats: stems 10-25 long, dichotomously 
much branched, slender, zigzag, commonly rufescent on the upper side, 
more or less hirsute; leaves ovate-oblong (8—-15"™" long), oblique at 
base, acutish, slightly sulcate, sharply serrulate nearly to the base, pal- 
mately 3—5-nerved, light-green above, somewhat paler beneath, clothed 
with scattered hairs; petioles slender, about 1™ long; stipules incon- 
spicuous, subulate, fimbriate: flowers clustered near the ends of the 
branches, peduncles longer than the petioles (1.5"" long), slender: 
involucre funnelform (1™" high), glabrous; glands cupulate, circular, 
dark-brown, on rather long pedicels; appendages small, only slightly 
exceeding the glands, crenate, white; involucral teeth equaling the 
gland, laciniz few; crests in the throat of the involucre small, slightly 
lacerate: capsules medium (1.75™" long by 2™ wide), oval-oblong, 
glabrous, rounded at base, retuse at apex, angles very obtuse; styles 
deeply cleft: seeds of medium size (1.25™"° long), obovoid-oblong, 
rounded at apex, acutish at base, black but covered with a white coat- 
ing, 4-angled, faces very slightly undulate or even; raphe conspicuous 
as a very dark line. 
Dry, sandy, and gravelly soil, southern Canada, New York, and 
Pennsylvania. 
Besides the central New York material. collected by the writer, 
specimens have been examined as follows: 
Ottawa, Ont. (Macoun, U.S. Herb.); Kingston, Ont. (Fow/er, U.S. 
Herb.) ; Toronto, Ont. (Weller, Cornell Univ. Herb.); Danville, Que- 
bec (Berg, Herb. Col. Coll.); Manitou Beach (Britton, Herb. Col. 
Coll.) ; Canandaigua Lake, N. Y. (Britton, Herb. Col. Coll.) ; Niagara 
county, N. Y. (Zownsend, Herb. Cornell Univ.) ; Lake George, N. Y. 
(Vasey, Herb. Col. Coll.) ; Weehawken, N. J. ( Van Seckle, U.S. Herb.) ; 
Lancaster county, Pa. (Small, Herb. Col. Coll.) 
his species is abundant in central New York, growing preferably 
along railroad embankments, roadsides, and similar waste places. 
Although growing often in company with Z. maculata and £. nutans, 
it is usually more abundant than either, and is conspicuous on account 
of its diffuse decumbent habit and light-green color. It becomes 
Strictly erect when attacked by the ecidial stage of the fungus 
a ga Luphorbig, and occasionally when growing among other 
erDs. 
The following synopsis will show the relation of £. Azrsu¢a to some 
of the other species with which it has been confounded: 
