Askr. COMPOSIT.E. 173 



compressed, mostly flat and Tvith callous marginal nerves onl}- : pappus simple, 

 or with an indistinct sliort outer series. — <-Tray, Proc. Am. Acad. xvi. 97. Con- 

 sists of A. Anidlus and the following, of less marked character. 



~ A. alpinus, L. A span or more high, with simple erect stems from a thickish candex, bear- 

 ing a single large head, cinereoas-pul.esient : leaves entire, somewhat 3-nerved, spat'ulate; 

 upper small and linear : involucral bracts loosely erect, oblong-linear, herbaceons', all nearly 

 , equalling the disk : rays violet : akenes hirsute : usually n manifest short outer' pappus. — 

 Spec. ii. 872: .lacii. I-'l- Austr. t. 8S ; Bot. ilag. t. 199; lln,,k. Fl. ii. 6. — Arctic shores, 

 Pellij. Alpine region of northern Rocky Jlountains, down to about kt. 49°, Vrummond, 

 Burke, Bourffc-ati, Macoun. The American plant mostly with fewer and shorter rays. (En.,' 

 X. Asia.) 



§ 2. MEr;ALj(sTRoi. Head very' large (an inch in diameter exclusive of the 

 large and numerous rays, pedunculate and solitary, terminating rigid branches) : 

 bracts of the hemispherical involucre imbricated in 2 or 3 unequal series, some- 

 what herbaceous, gradually attenuate-acuminate : akenes oblong, compressed, 

 2-4-nerved: pappus-bristles unusually coarse and rigid, rather scanty. — Gray, 

 PI. Wright, ii. 75. (Related to subsection Xyhjrrlilza and to Townsendia.) 



A. Wrightii, Gk.\.y, 1. c. Viscous-pubesceut, a foot or more high : leaves obloug-spatulate, 

 setilerous-mucronate, entire, or with one or two setiferous teeth, an inch and a half long 

 including the margined petiole, thickish, obscurely veined : bracts of the involucre ovate- 

 lanceulate or the inner narrower, rather lax, viscid, sUghtly scarious-margined, the caudate- 

 acuminate tips snrpa>,-ing the disk: rays purple, narrowly oblong, 30 to 40 (8 or 9 lines 

 long): akenes (young) loosely pubescent: papjius white, of unequal strongly denticulate 

 bristles, the larger almost aristiform. — Tov-nsendia {Mfi^/filastrum) Wrightii, Gray, Bot. 

 Mex. Bound. 78. — Kockf and stony hills on the Rio Grande, S. W. Texas, from the mouth 

 of the great canon, Wright, Biqi'loir. 



A. tortifolius, Gr.iy. Tomentose-pubescent, at length glabrate, 2 feet high : leaves from 

 oblong to narrowly lanceolate, rigid, sjjinulosely dentate and acuminate, sometimes incisely 

 pinnatifld, veiny : involucral bracts narrower and more uumerous, lanceolate-subulate, rigid, 

 the longest barely equalling the disk ; rays pale purple or violet, often an inch long: akenes 

 sericeous-canescent : pappus at length ferruginous, deciduous in a ring. — Proc. Am. Acad. 

 vii. 353. & Bot. Calif, i. 323, not ilichx. Ajilo.„ip/„i.i tortifolius, Torr. & Gray, Jour. Bost. 

 Soc. Nat. Hist. V. 109. — ^fountains bordering the ^Mohave Desert, !S. E. CaUfomia to .S. 

 Ijtah, Fremont, yewberri/, Cooper, &c. 



§ 3. HELE.isTKUM. Heads mostly smaller : pappus (simple) unusually coarse 

 and rigid, the stronger bristles somewhat clavellate at tip : bracts of the involucre 

 partly or the outer wholly foliaceous and linear-lanceolate, rigid, imbricated in 

 several series, but the outermost little shorter than the inner : receptacle alveo- 

 late or fimbrillate : style-appendages filiform-subidate : akenes narrow and mostly 

 slender, little compressed, 8-10-nerved, nearly glabrous: leaves all linear and 

 entire or with some spinulose teeth, rigid, one-nerved and with obscure lateral 

 nerves : ravs numerous and elongated : pappus ferruginous or tawny. — Gray, 

 Proc. Am. Acad. xvi. S.17. Hcleastnnii. DC. Prodr. v. 263. 



* Leaves as if gramineous, and bearing some spinuliform serratures or denticulations, mostly cus- 

 pidate at tip, smooth and glabrous: stems simple from- a tuberiform rootstock, strict and slender, 

 riyrid, 2 feet high, pilose below, or the base of the leaves ciliate with some long and jointed hairs : 

 flowering in summer. 



A ■ eryngiif olius, Tore. & Gr.it. Stems bearing solitary or 2 or 3 large heads ; leaves 

 mostlv lanceolate-linear (2 or 3 lines wide, the larger 4 inches long, upper ones gradually 

 reduced to erect bracts) : involucre hemispherical, very many-flowered ; its bracts linear- 

 lanceolate, attenuate into an almost setiform cusp : rays an inch long, pale blue or white. — 



