COMPOSITE. (COMI SITE FAMILY.) 233 



* * Involiicre 12 - 40-Jiowered, hairy, as well as the peduncles. 



7. N. racemosus, Hook. Stem wand-like, simple (2° -5° high), snjooiA, 

 as well as the oval or oblong-lanceolate denticulate leaves ; the lower tapering 

 into winged petioles (rarely cnt-pinnatifid), the upper partly clasping; heads in 

 clusters crowded in a long and narrow interruptedly spiked panicle ; involucre about 

 12-JlQwered; pappus straw-color. — Plains, Ohio to Wisconsin, and northward. 

 Also Hackonsack marshes. New Jersey. Sept. — Flowei-s flosh-color. 



8. N. dsper, ToiT. & Gr. Stem wand-like, simple (2° -4° high), rough- 

 pubescent, as well as the oval-oblong or broadly lanceolate toothed leaves ; heads 

 in small clusters (mostly erect) disposed in a long and narrow coK^viund raceine ; 

 involucre 12 - li-Jlowered ; pappus straw-color. — Dry i^rairies and barrens, Ohio 

 to Illinois, and southward. Sept. — Flowers larger than No. 7, cream-color. 



9. W. crcpidineus, DC. Somewhat smooth ; stem stout (5° -8° high), 

 bearing numerous nodding heads in loose clusters on the conpnbose-panicled 

 branches ; leaves large (6' - 12' long), broadly triangular-ovale or halberd-firm, 

 strongly toothed, contracted into winged petioles ; involucre 20 - iO-Jlowei'ed ; 

 pappus brown. — Rich soil, Ohio to Illinois and southward. Sept. — Involucre 

 blackish ; flowers cream-color 



yS. TROXIMON, Nutt. Tkoximon. 



Head many-flowered. Scales of the bell-shaped involucre ovate or lanceo- 

 late, pointed, loosely imbricated in S; or 3 rows. Achenia smooth, 10-ribbed, 

 not beaked. Pappus longer than the achenium, white, of copious and unequal 

 rather rigid capillaiy bristles, some of the larger gradually thickened towards 

 the base. — Perennial herbs, with linear elongated tufted root-leaves, and a sim- 

 ple naked scape. Heads solitary, large : flowers yellow. (Name from rpm^opai, 

 to eat, first applied to a plant witli an edible root. ) 



1. X. CUSpiclatuni, Pursh. Leaves lanceolate, elongated, tapering to 

 a sharp point, woolly on the margins ; scales of the involucre lanceolate, sharp- 

 pointed. — Prairies, Wisconsin [Lapham) and westward. April, May. 



70. TARAXACUM, Haller. Dandelion. 



Head many-flowered. Involucre double, the outer of short scales ; the inner 

 of long linear scales, erect in a single row. Achenia oblong, ribbed, and rough- 

 ened on the ribs, the apex prolonged into a very slender thread-like beak, bear- 

 ing the pappus of copious soft and white capillary bristles. — Perennial herbs, 

 producing a tuft of pinnatifid or rnncinate radical leaves, and slender naked 

 hollow scapes, bearing a single large head of yellow flowers. (Name from 

 Tapaa-<Ta, to disquiet or disorder, in allusion to its medicinal properties.) 



1. X. Dens-Ieonis, Desf. (Common Dandelion.) Smooth, or at 

 first pubescent; outer involucre reflexed. — Pastures and fields everywhere: 

 probably indigenous in the North. Apiil - Sept. — After blossoming, the inner 

 involucre clos3s, the slender beak elongates and raises up the pappus while the 

 fr.iit is forming, the whole involucre is then reflexed, exposing to the wind tho 

 n.iked fraits, with the pappus displayed in an open globular head. (Eu.l 



