SUNFLOWER FAMILY. 439 



paleae commonly 5, unequal, oblong-oblanceolate, % to ^ as long as the 

 achene, with 2 very small roundish outer ones. 



Dry ridges cast of Napa Valley. June. 



c. douglasd II. & A. Corollas whitish or flesh-colored, the marginal not 

 larger; paleae 8 to 14, narrowly oblong. — Sierra Nevada. 



(.'. NEYADEXSis Gray. Low tufted perennial, 2 to 4 in. high; peduncles 1 

 in. or less long, 1-headed. — High Sierra Nevada. 



43. HELENIUM L. Sneezeweed. 

 Erect perennial herbs with resinous-dotted herbage. Leaves alternate, sessile 

 except the lower, and often decurrent on the stem. Heads solitary or corymbose, 

 borne on long naked peduncles. Flowers yellow, or the lobes of the disk- 

 corolla turning yellowish or brownish. Kays several, usually drooping. Bracts 

 of the involucre linear, reflexed. Receptacle globose or hemispherical, naked. 

 Achenes turbinate, ribbed. Pappus of 5 to 12 thin or hyaline paleae, in ours 

 short-pointed. (Greek name of some plant, perhaps named after Helenus, son 

 of Priam.) 



Rays shorter than the disk, 3 to 5 lines long 1. H. puberulum. 



Rays as long or longer than the disk, 7 to 9 lines long 2. H. bigelovii. 



1. H. puberulum DC. Eosilla. Paniculately branched, 2 to 5 ft. high, 

 the branches ending in long slender peduncles; herbage puberulent; leaves 

 lanceolate or narrowly linear or the longest oblong, sessile and strongly decur- 

 rent on the stem; globose disk of flowers 5 to 7 lines broad; rays and bracts 

 of the involucre reflexed, short and inconspicuous; disk-flowers red-brown; 

 scales of pappus ovate, short-awned. 



Creek beds, stream banks and about springy places: Humboldt Co.; Vaca 

 Valley; San Francisco; San Jose; Loma Prieta; Monterey and southward to 

 Southern California. July-Nov. 



2. H. bigelovii Gray. Bigelow Sneezeweed. Stem 2 to 4 ft. high, branch- 

 ing above into several erect peduncle-like branches; leaves lanceolate, thickish, 

 9 in. long or less, minutely tomentose, not so conspicuously decurrent as in the 

 preceding; rays showy, golden yellow, 7 to 9 lines long; disk brownish yellow*; 

 pappus-paleae 5 to 8, ovate-lanceolate, tapering into a slender awn; achenes 

 hairy. 



Marshy ground: Lake Co. and Santa Eosa Creek to Southern California. 



44. BLENNOSPERMA Less. 



Low annual herbs with alternate pinnately parted leaves and peduncle-like 

 branches bearing solitary yellow flowers. Involucre simple, parted into broadly 

 oblong bracts. Eeceptacle naked. Heads many-flowered. Bay-flow T ers fertile; 

 disk-fjowers perfect but sterile. Achenes obovate, not compressed or angled, 

 densely covered with minute papillae. Pappus none. (Greek blenna, mucus, 

 and sperma, seed, the surface of the achene becoming conspicuously mucilag- 

 inous when moistened.) 



1. B. calif ornicum (DC.) T. & G. Stems branching from near the base, 

 becoming diffuse, 4 to 6 in. high, often naked above; herbage glabrous, slightly 

 succulent ; leaves parted into narrowly linear remote lobes ; involucre greenish 

 with purple markings; ray-flowers 8 to 11, the lignle of the corolla 2 to 3 

 lines long, or the alternate pistils destitute of corolla; style-branches of ray- 

 flowers broad; disk-flowers 20 to l-l, shorter than Mie involucre, their styles 

 undivided, capitate at summit; achenes obscurely 8 to 10 -ribbed. 



Not infrequent in moist ground, from the upper Sacramento Valley to 

 Southern California; Ukiah; Sonoma Co.; Solano Co.; Autioch; Danville; 

 Livermore Pass. Feb. -Mar. 



