COMPOSITAE 



COMPOSITE FAMILY 



AMERICAN FEVERFEW 



Parthenium integrifolium L. 



This plant grows in dry open places on prairies and especially 

 along prairie borders in wooded regions. It is found from Mary- 

 land to Minnesota and south to Georgia and Arkansas, and its 

 blooming season is 

 May to September. It 

 was formerly used in 

 medicine and in some 

 places is called Wild 

 Quinine, as well as 

 Prairie Dock and 

 Cutting Almond. 



It is perennial by 

 tuberous under- 

 ground stems. The 

 flowering stem is 1-4 

 feet high, rather stout 

 and covered with fine 

 hairs near the branch- 

 ing top but usually 

 smooth below. The 

 leaves are ovate or 

 ovate-oblong, acute 

 or acuminate at the 

 apex, round-toothed, 

 rough on both sides 

 and firm ; the lower are 

 petioled and often i 



foot long and 5 inches wide, whereas the upper are much smaller, 

 sessile and partly clasping. 



The heads are numerous in a dense flat-topped inflorescence. 

 The involucre is hemispherical and its firm bracts are arranged 

 in 2 series, the outer oblong and very hairy, and the inner broader 

 and nearly smooth. The receptacle is cone shaped and covered 

 with very thin chafi^. Very short white corollas characterize the 

 5 ray flowers, which are pistillate and fertile. The disk flowers 

 are staminate with imperfect pistils. The akenes are slightly 

 flattened, margined and crowned by the persistent rays. 



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