444 8YNOENES1A [Ccobace* 



time, in a cylindrical form,— the beak of tho akencs then becomes suddenly elon. 

 gated, the whole involucre is reflexed, and.ihe elevated pappus displayed in a 

 globular head. This foreigner is completely naturalized ; and rather more abund. 

 ant Uian welcome, in «ur pastures. It is said to be esteemed, by some, as a salad ; 

 and to possess diuretic properties— as one of its vulgar names would indicate* 

 There are no native species in the U. States. 



365. PRENANTHES. /.. Mat. Gen. 628. 

 [Greek, Prenes, drooping, and A?Uhos. a flower; from its nodding flowers.] 



Heads few-flowered, nodding:. Involucre c\ lindric, calyculate at base. 

 Akenes mibterete, not beaked. Pappus in several series, scabrous! 

 Receptacle naked. 



1. P. aliia, L. Radical and lower leaves angulatc-hastate, dentate 

 palmate-lobed, and sinuate-pinnatilid, upper leaves more or less ovate* 

 and lanceolate, all petiolate ; racemes subfasciculate, nodding; i n .' 

 volucres about 8-lcaved, 5 to 12-flowered. Higel. JJost. p. 286. ' 



P. Serpcntaria. Florul. Cestr. p. 83. Also, Pursh, Am. 2. p % 499. 



Icon, tab. 24, 



Also ? P. altissima. Jfilld. Pursh, Ell. Florul. Cestr. &c. 



Mso ? P. cordata, and deltoidea. Ell. Florul. Cestr. &c. 



Nabalus albus. Hook. Am. I. p. 294. 



Also ? N. altissimus, cordatus, and serpentarius. Hook. I. c. 



Harpalycc alba. Heck, Hot. p. 167. Not Harpalyce of DC. 



Also ? H. altissima, cordata, and scrpentaria. Heck, I. c. 



White Prenanthes. Vu Igd— Lion's foot. Rattle-snake root. 



Root perennial. Stem 2 to or 6 feet high, sometimes nearly simple, often much 

 branched, generally purplish, smooth. Leaves 2 or 3 to 6 or 8 inches lone, and 

 ofton as wide as long, very variable in form, from deltoid to hastate-lobed, palmate. 

 and pinnatifid-lobed, roundish-ovate and ovate-lanceolate, more or less dentate, or 

 denticulate, smooth, rather thin and membranaceous, often decurrent on the pei- 

 oles,— the radical leaves large, and on long petioles. Heads of dowers cylindric 

 numerous, nodding, in paniculate racemose fascicles, terminal and axillary; t*» 

 volucres often purplish, the inner leaflets in a'single series, sublinear and equal, 

 the outer ones short, ovate, imbricated. Florets whitish, or ochroleucous. Akenes 

 subterete, striate, not beaked, but crowned by a sessile scabrous tawny pappus. 

 Hob. Woodlands ; clearings, &c. frequent. Fl. August* Fr. Sept-October. 



Obs. This is a remarkably heterophyllous and variable plant ; and I am strongly 

 inclined to the opinion of Drs. Bigelow, Torrey, Hooker, &c. that several of the 

 •pedes, in the books, are nothing more than varieties. In revising our Chester 

 County specimens, I have thought it safest, for the present, to refer them all to 

 this species ;— though it must be confessed, we often meet with one in which the 

 involucres are usually much smaller, greenish, about 5-flowered, and the florcti 

 more yellow (which I take to be the P. altissima, of Authors)— am? may, perhaps, 

 prove to be distinct. The root of the P. serpentatia, Pursh— with larger purplish 

 sub-glaucous involucres— is said to be intensely bitter, and is one of the many fron- 

 tier remedies for the bite of snakes. Eight or ten additional species have been 

 enumerated in the U. States ; but a careful revision of them will probably reduce 

 the number. I am gratified to find the following good authority for retaining tin- 

 disturbed the old generic name, Prenanthes— with which we have been so long 

 familiar. "Genera Doniana Harpalyce CNabalus, Cass.), Lygodesmia, et Atalan- 

 thus, r\x atquc ne vix quidem separari merentur." Lcssing. 



