COMPOSITE FAMILY. 191 



21. LIATRIS, BUTTON-SNAKEEOOT or BLAZING-STAR. (An 

 unexplained name.) Chiefly in pine-barrens or sandy soil. Fl. late summer 

 and autumn, "il 



§ 1. Stem commonly wand4ike and simple, rising from a round corm or short tuber, 

 very leafy with narrow and entire often grass-like leaoes : heads spiked err 

 r'.cemed, or occasionally branching into a panicle, with imbricated involucre: 

 lobes of the rose-purple corolla long and slender. 



* Biislles of the pappus plainly plumose to the naked eye. 

 H- Heads small, only i- 5-ftowered. 



L. tenilif61ia, in S. pine-barrens, has very slender mostly thread-shaped 

 leaves, stem 2° - 4° high, very slender raceme, and scales of involucre erect and' 

 pointed. 



L. ^legans, from Virginia S. ; 2° high, often hairy or dovfny, with com- 

 pact spike, short lanceolate or linear leaves, and scales of involucre with spread- 

 ing rose-purple tips. 



H- t- Heads large andft:wer, cylindrical, many-flowered. 



Ii, squarrdsa, Cummon Blazino-Stah ; from Penn. S. & W. ; l°-5° 

 high, with linear leaves, few heads about V long, and scales of involucre with 

 spreading leaf-like tips. 



L. oylindriicea, from W. Canada S. W., smaller than the preceding, 

 6'- 18' high, the narrow heads witli short and rounded appressed tips. 

 * * Bristles of the pappus not plainly plumose to the naked eye. 

 ■*- Heads 30-^0-flowered, commonly an inch broad. 



Jj acaribsa, with stout stem 2° -5° high, lanceolate leaves, or the lower 

 spati''ate-oblong, and very numerous scales of the involucre with rounded tips, 

 often scarious or purple on the margins. 



H- <- Heads 3 - 16-flowered, from i' to -J' long: stem 2°- 5° high. 



L. pycnost&eliya, in prairies W., with linear or lance-linear leaves, and 

 a very dense spike of about 5-flowered heads, the scales of the involucre with 

 recurving purplish tips. 



L. spic^ta, the commonest species ; in low grounds, with 8-12-flowered 

 heads crowded in a long spike, the oblong and blunt scales of involucre without 

 any obvious tips. 



L. graminifolia, in wet pine-barrens from New Jersey S., has 7-12- 

 flowered heads in a looser spike or raceme, the rigid appressed scales blunt or 

 slightly pointed. 



Ii. gracilis, from N. Carolina S., with spreading leaves, the lower lance- 

 oblong and long-petioled, the others linear and short, and 3-7-flowered small 

 heads on spreading pedicels. 



§ 2. No tuber or corm : leaves broad : heads small, in a corymb. 



Ii. odoratissima, Vanilla-plant of low pine-barrens S. (also wrongly' 

 called Hound's-tongue) ; 2°-3° high, very smooth, with pale obovate or ob- 

 long leaves which are vanilla-scented in withering, the heads 7 - 8-flowered, in- 

 volucre of few scales, and pappus not plumose. 



22. KUHNIA. (Named by Linnaeus for Dr. Kuhn of Pennsylvania.) 



K, eupatorioidea, the only species from New Jersey to Wisconsin S., 

 is a rather homely herb, with lanceolate leaves, and panicled or corymbed small 

 heads of flowers, in autumn. % 



23. MIKANIA, CLIMBING HBMPWEED. (Named for a Bohemian 

 botanist. Prof. Mikan.) 



M. sctodens, a rather handsome plant, climbs over bushes in low grounds, 

 vnth triangular-heart-shaped or halberd-shaped leaves, and small heads of pur- 

 plish flowers, in summer, y. 



