56 Rudbeekia laciniata. 



Plant from four to ten feet high. Root perennial. Stem erect, 



simple below, branched above, smooth and glabrous. Radicle leaves 



sub-pinnate, laciniate ; leaflets three-lobed ; lobes oval-lanceolate 



j 



acuminate, laciniate ; those of the stem three-parted ; the divisions 

 acuminate ; the upper leaves small, ovate, acute ; edges of all sca- 

 brous. Flowers large ; disk spheroid at first, afterwards conical : 

 loose-flowered ; rajs, generally ten in number, lanceolate, obtuse, 

 deeply notched or emarginated; of a brilliant yellow colour, and dur- 

 ing the first period of florescence horizontal, afterwards drooping. 

 Grows from Canada to the southern states, inhabiting the edges of 

 swamps and ditches and watery thickets, flowering from zYugust un- 

 til October. 



This species of Rudbeekia is one of the commonest autumnal 

 plants in the middle states ofthe union. It is likewise frequent in 

 those as far north and east as Connecticut. Its height renders it 

 very ornamental ; and makes it also very conspicuous among the 

 great number of showy plants which at this season decorate the 

 grounds. The species it most nearly resembles, is the pinna ta and 

 digitata: but from these it is easily discriminated by attending to the 

 botanical characters given in the books. With the R. pinnatu it 

 has, by some, been thought to be easily confounded. Its very smooth 

 stem and difference ofthe upper leaves, however, distinguish it suf- 

 ficiently from that species 



