206 COMPOSITE. (composite family.) 



Florida to South Carolina. Sept. — Stem 1°- 3° high. Lowest leaves oval or 

 lanceolate, toothed ; those of the branches short and bract-like. Rays blue. 



48. A. exilis, Ell. Very glabrous ; stem slender, tall, sparingly branched ; 

 leaves very long, linear-subulate ; heads in racemes ; scales of the involucre 

 linear-lanceolate, half as long as the rays. — Damp soil, in the Western districts 

 of Georgia. Sept. and Oct. — Stem 4° -5° high. Lowest leaves 4' - 6' long, 

 1" wide. Rays pale purple. Achcnia pubescent. 



17. ERIGERON, L. Fleabane. 

 Heads mostly hemispherical, many-flowered. Rays very numerous, pistillate. 

 Scales of the involucre nearly equal, in 1-2 rows. Receptacle flat, naked. 

 Achenia compressed. Pappus a single row of capillary bristles ; or with an 

 outer row of short chaffy scales or bristles. — Herbs. Leaves alternate. Rays 

 white or purplish. 



* Pappus double. 



1. E. strigOSUm, Muhl. Annual, rough-pubescent ; stem slender, corym- 

 bosc-panicled above ; leaves entire or sparingly serrate, the lowest oblong, taper- 

 ing into a slender petiole, the upper lanceolate or linear, sessile, distant ; heads 

 small, corymbose-pan icled ; rays white or rose-color ; outer pappus short and 

 chaffy. — Dry old fields, common. June. — Stem 2° high. 



* * Pappus single. 

 +- Annual: rays shorter than the dish. 



2. E. Canadense, L. Hirsute or smoothisli : stem much branched ; 

 leaves linear-lanceolate ; heads very numerous, in panicled racemes, small, cy- 

 lindrical ; rays white; disk-flowers 4-toothed. — Old fields, common. May- 

 Scpt. — Stem 1° -3° high. 



-*- +- Perennial : rays conspicuous. 



3. E. Philadelphicum, L. Hairy ; stem corymbose-branched above ; 

 leaves thin, toothed or entire ; the lowest spatulate-oblong ; the upper oblong- 

 lanceolate, clasping ; rays very numerous and narrow, purplish. (E. quercifo- 

 lium, Lam., with the lowest leaves pinnately toothed.) — Low ground, Florida, 

 and northward. May. — Stem 2° - 4° high. 



4. E. bellidifolilim, Muhl. Hairy or villous; stem simple; lowest 

 leaves spatulate or obovate, toothed above the middle ; the upper oblong, sessile 

 and entire ; heads large, solitary or corymbose ; rays broadly linear, bluish-pur- 

 ple. — Open woods and banks in the upper districts. March and April. — Stem 

 1° high, stoloniferous. 



5. E. vernum, Torr. & Gray. Smooth or nearly so ; stem simple, scape- 

 like ; radical leaves clustered, thick, spatulate or obovate, entire or slightly 

 toothed ; the others small and remote ; heads corymbed ; rays (about SO) white. 

 (E. nudicaule. Mickx.) —Fine-barren swamps, Florida to North Carolina, and 

 westward. March and April. — Rhizoma thick. Stem 1° - 2° high. 



18. DIPLOPAPPUS, Cass. 

 Heads many-flowered. Rays 8-12, pistillate. Scales of the involucre imbri- 

 cated, without herbaceous tips. Receptacle flat, alveolate. Pappus of capillary 



