212 COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 



Var. strictula, Torr. &, Gray. Stem simple, or with few elongated rough- 

 pubescent branches; leaves smaller; racemes short, forming a long and slender 

 compound raceme. (S. Balicina, EM.) — Swamps, Florida, and northward. 

 Sept. and Oct — Stem 4° - G° high. 



24. S. arguta, Ait. Smooth; leaves sharply serrate, acute or acuminate 

 at each end, the lowest elliptical or lanceolate-oblong, somewhat 3-ribbcd, on 

 winged and filiate petioles ; the upper sessile; panicle dense, somewhat corym- 

 bose; heads small, crowded, 18 -20-ilowered ; rays 8-12, small; scales of the 

 involucre obtuse ; achenia nearly smooth. (S. juncea, Ad., a form with narrower 

 and less strongly serrate leaves, the upper ones entire.) — Rich soil in the upper 

 districts. Sept. — Stem 2° - 4° high. 



23. S. Boottii, Hook. Stem smooth, or pubescent above; leaves lanceo- 

 late or oblong, acute or acuminate at each end, appressed-serratc, smooth or 

 more or less pubescent; panicle open, oblong or pyramidal; heads about 12- 

 flowered ; rays 5 ; scales of the involucre obtuse ; achenia nearly smooth. — Va- 

 ries, with longer, narrower, and more sharply serrate leaves, and slender racemose 

 panicles towards the summits of the spreading branches. (S. juncea.' Ell.) — 

 Sandy soil, Florida to North Carolina. Sept. — Stem 2° -3° high, often pur- 

 plish. Heads larger and leaves more rigid than in the last. 



2G. S. gracillima, Torr. & Gray. Smooth ; stem slender ; lowest leaves 

 spatulate-lanceolate, obtuse, serrate near the apex ; the others linear and entire ; 

 heads rather large, 9 - 12-flowered, forming a narrow compound raceme at the 

 summit of the stem and branches; rays mostly wanting ; scales of the involucre 

 oblong, obtuse; achenia pubescent. — Dry pine barrens, Middle Florida. Oct. 

 — Stem 2° high. 



-*— -« — h — Leaves very numerous, gradually diminishing in s'ze upward, veiny, sessile, 

 or the lowest narrowed into a short petiole : heads small. 



27. S. altissima, L. Stem hirsute ; leaves ovate or oblong, acute, serrate, 

 rough above, pubescent, especially on the veins beneath, often rugose, promi- 

 nently veined ; panicle leafy, often narrow and elongated; the racemes slender 

 and recurved ; scales of the 10-15-flowered involucre linear; rays 6-9, small; 

 achenia pubescent. (S. rugosa, S. ulmifolia, and S. aspera, Ell.) — Low thick- 

 ets, Florida, and northward. Sept. and Oct. — Stem 2° - 6° high, commonly 

 branching. Leaves variable in texture and pubescence, being thin and smoother 

 in shady places, and more rigid, rougher, and often rugose in places more ex- 

 posed. 



28. S. ulmifolia, Muhl. Stem smooth, or softly pubescent above ; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, serrate, smooth on the upper surface, paler and pu- 

 bescent on the veins beneath ; panicle loose, spreading ; heads about 10-ilowered ; 

 rays t - 5 ; scales of the involucre acutish J achenia nearly smooth. — Low 



ground in the upper districts of Alabama, and northward. Sept. — Stem 2° -3° 



high. Leaves thin, 2' -:!' long. 



•2\). S. Elliottii, Torr. & Gray. Smooth; stem mostly simple; leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate or elliptical, ses>ilc, acute, finely serrate, the upper often 

 • utile; racemes crowded, forming a pyramidal panicle; scales of the 10 -20- 





