494 COMFOSITJE. [Laun^a. 



keel often tbickened in fmit. Beceptacle flat, naked. Anther^ 

 bases sagittate, auricles setaceous. Style-arms slender. Achenes 

 narrow, subterete angled or slightly flattened, rarely winged, truncate' 

 at both ends or rarely emarginate ; ribs 4-5, very stout, close-set, 

 smooth papillose or narrowly winged or 2 -grooved, truncate at each 

 end, I^appus copious; hairs many-seriate, simple, very slender, 

 white, a few inner sometimes longer and stronger, all connate at the 

 base into a deciduous ring. — Species about 20 ; Mediterranean region, 

 Cauary Islands, W. Asia to India. 



Heads terminal on the paniculately branched 



flowering stems . . . . . . 1. L. aspleniifoUa.. 



Heads more or less racemose on the flowering 



stem and its branches . . . . , 2. L. nudicauUs. 



1. L. aspleniifolia, HooTc. f. in F. B.I. in, 415; Watt E. D. Prenanthes 

 aspleniif olia, Roxh. Fl. Ind. Hi, 404. 



Biennial or perennial, glabrous. Leaves sessile or shortly petioled, 3-6 in., 

 long, narrowly obovate, sinute-lobed or pinnatifid, lobes minutely 

 toothed, the teeth rarely white and cartilaginous ; cauline leaves few. 

 Flowering steTm.s 6-18 in. long, many from the root, almost naked, 

 branches dichotomously divaricating. Heads 4 in., terminal, paniculate, 

 the peduncles with usually 1 or 2 subulate bracts. Invol-hracts quite 

 glabrous; outer small, inner linear, margins membranous. Achenes 

 7\ in., columnar, angled and ribbed, ribs rough. Fappus | in., 

 deciduous. 



Common within the area, especially in cultivated ground. Flowers during 

 the cold season. Distbib. Plains of Pnnjal) and Bengal, and southwards^ 

 to the Circars ; also in the Andaman Islands and in Burma. The root is 

 used medicinally. 



2. L. nudicaulis, Hoofc. /. in F. B. I.iii, 416 ; Collett Fl. Siml. 288; 

 Coohe Fl.Bomh. a, 63. Microrhynchus nudicaulis, iess. Prenanthes pro- 

 cumbens, Eoasfe. Fl. Ind. Hi, 404. Lactuca obtusa, Clarke Comp. Ind. 261. 



Glabrous, biennial or perennial, with yellow juice. Flowering stems 

 usually many, 6-24) in. long, spreading on all sides, simple or branched, 

 naked or with a few small leaves below the clusters of flowers. Leaves 

 usually sessile, 2-10 in. long, sinuate-lobed runcinate or pinnatifid ; 

 lobes irregularly lobulate and sharply toothed, the teeth usually white 

 and cartilaginous. Heads ^-f in. long, sessile, narrow, in terminal and 

 subracemose clusters, rarely solitary. Pedicels scaly with small tracts. 

 Invol-hracts overtopping the pappus, with white membranous margins ; 

 outer shortly ovate ; inner long, linear, with the midrib thiokened in 

 fruit. Aclienes t\ in., columnar, thickly ribbed, outer ones compressed, 

 much shorter than the soft white pappus. 



Abundant within the area. Flowers during the cold season. Disteib. 

 Plains of Bengal and Punjab and southwards through Sindh to the 



