COMPOSITE. (composite FAMILY.) 253 



Wet river-banks, Pennsylyania to Illinois, and southward. June - Oct. — All 

 belong to a wide-spread and variable species of the warmer regions, the oldest 

 specific name of which is E. alba. 



34. BORKtCHIA, Adans. Sea Ox-ete. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; the rays fertile. Scales of the hemispherical 

 involucre imbricated. Receptacle flat, covered with lanceolate rigid and per- 

 sistent chaff. Achenia somewhat wedge-shaped, 3 - 4-angled. Pappus a short 

 4-toothed crown. — Shrubby low maritime plants, coriaceous or fleshy, vrith 

 opposite nearly entire leaves, and solitary peduncled terminal heads of yellow 

 flowers ; anthers blackish. (Named for Olof Borrich, a Danish botanist.) 



1. B. frut^scens, DC. Whitened with a minute silky pubescence (6'- 

 12' high) ; leaves spatulate-oblong or lanceolate, often toothed near the base; 

 chaff rigidly pointed. — Virginia and southward. 



35. HELIOFSIS, Pers. Ox-ete. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; the rays 10 or more, fertile. Scales of the 

 involucre in 2 or 3 rows ; the outer leaf-Uke and somewhat spreading, the inner 

 shorter than the disk. Receptacle conical : chaff linear. Achenia smooth, 4- 

 angular. Pappus none, or a mere border. — Perennial herbs, like Helianthus. 

 Heads showy, peduncled, terminating the stem or branches. Leaves opposite, 

 petioled, triple-ribbed, serrate. Flowers yellow. (Name composed of rfkios, the 

 sun, and o'^is, appearance, from the likeness to the Sunflower.) 



1. H. Isevis, Pers. Nearly smooth (1°- 4° high) ; leaves ovate-lanceolate 

 or oblong-ovate. — Var. bcXbka has roughish foliage, and the involucre some- 

 what hoary. — Banks and copses : common. Aug. 



36. ECHINACEA, Moench. Purple Cone-flower. 



Heads many-flowered, radiate ; the rays very long, drooping, pistillate but 

 sterile. Scales of the involucre imbricated, lanceolate, spreading. Receptacle 

 conical ; the lanceolate spiny-tipped chaff longer than the disk-flowers. Ache- 

 nia thick and short, 4-sided. Pappus a small toothed border. — Perennial herbs, 

 with the stout and nearly simple stems naked above and terminated by a single 

 large head ; the leaves chiefly alternate, 3-5-nerved. Rays rose-purple, rather 

 persistent : disk purplish. (Name formed from 'Ep^ivoj, the Hedgehog, or Sea- 

 urchin, in allusion to the spiny chaff of the disk.) 



1. E. purptirea, Moench. Leaves rough, often serrate ; the lowest oi,-a(e, 

 ^■nerved, veiny, long-petioled ; the others ovate-lanceolate ; involucre imbricated 

 in 3-5 rows ; stem smooth, or in one variety (E. serdtina, DC.) rough-bristly, 

 as well as the leaves. — Prairies and banks, from W. Penn. and Ohio southward 

 and westward. July. — Rays 15-20, dull purple (rarely whitish), l'-2' long. 

 Root thick, black, very pungent to the taste, used in popular medicine under 

 the name of Black Sampson. — Probably varies into 



2. E. angUStif61ia, DC. Leaves, as well as the slender simple stem, 

 hristlfi-hairij, lanceolate and linear-lanceolate, 3-nerved, entire ; involucre less imbri- 

 cated ; rays 12 - 15 (2' long), rose-color or red. —^Plains from lUinois and Wis- 

 consin southwestward. June - Aug. 



