208 coMPOSiTJE. (composite family.) 



3. B. asteroides, L'Her. Stem paniculate, the branches short; leaves 

 lanceolate, entire ; aclienia smootli, nan-ow-margined ; pappus very short, with- 

 out awns. — Swamps, North Carolina. Stem 2° -3° high. Heads intermediate 

 in size between the two preceding. 



20. SOLIDAGO, L. Golden-rod. 



Heads few or many-flowered. Rays 1-16, rarely wanting, pistillate. Disk- 

 flowers tubular, perfect. Scales of the involucre imbricated, rarely with spread- 

 ing tips. Receptacle flat, mostly alveolate. Achenia terete, many-ribbed. 

 Pappus simple, of numerous scabrous mostly capillary bristles. — Perennial 

 (rarely shrubby) erect plants, with alternate leaves, and small heads of yellow 

 flowers. 



§ 1. ChktSastkum. — Scales of the involucre with herbaceous spreading tips : 

 bristles of the pappus unequal, some of them thickened vpward : racemes short, 

 forming a long and narrow leafi/ panicle, 



1. S. discoidea, Torr. & Gray. Pubescent or hairy; stem simple or 

 branched ; leaves ovate, acute, abruptly narrowed into a petiole, the lower ones 

 coarsely seirate ; racemes composed of 3 - 6 large 10 - 15-flowered heads ; rays 

 none ; achenia smooth. (Aster? discoideus. Ell.) — Rich woods, Plorida, Geor- 

 gia, and westward. September. — Flowers yellowish-white. Stem 3° - 5° high. 



2. S. squarrosa, Muhl. Stem stout, simple, pubescent above ; leaves 

 large, smoothish, oblong, acute, serrate, the lower ones tapering into a long 

 winged petiole ; the upper sessile and entire ; racemes shorter than the leaves, 

 composed of 3-6 clustered heads ; rays 12-16, showy; achenia smooth. — 

 Mountains of Georgia, and northward. September. — Stem 2° -4° high. Low- 

 est leaves 6'- 8' long. Heads 16-24-flowered. 



5 2. ViRGAiiREA. — Scales of the involucre oppressed : rays mostly fewer than the 

 disk-flowers, rarely wanting : racemes racemose, corymbose, or panicled. 



* Racemes not l-sided ; leaves feather-veined. 



+- Racemes axillary, cluster-like, usually shorter than the leaves : the uppermost often 



crowded and racemose ; leaves uniform, serrate. 



3. S. pubens, M. A. Cuitis. Stem simple, slender, pubescent ; leaves 

 thin, oval-lanceolate, acuminate at each end, coarsely sen-ate, pubescent; ra- 

 cemes dense, the upper ones racemose ; heads 8 - 14-flowered ; rays 4 - 7 ; scales 

 of the involucre obtuse, villous-pubescent ; achenia hoary. — Upper and moun- 

 tainous parts of North Carolina, Curtis. August. — Stem 2° - 3° high. Leaves 

 3' -5' long. 



4. S. Buckleyi, Torr. & Gray. Villous-pubescent ; leaves oblong, acute 

 at each end, coarsely serrate, smoother above ; racemes loose, all separate and 

 much shorter than the leaves ; heads 15 - 20-flowered ; rays 4 - 6 ; scales of the 

 involucre rather acute, nearly smooth ; achenia short and smooth. — Interior of 

 Alabama, Buckley. October — Stem 2° high. Leaves 3' long. 



5. S, latifolia, L. Stem smooth, simple, angled ; leaves oval or ovate, 

 acuminate, abruptly contracted at the base, unequally toothed-serrate, mostly 



