Composite.] 



CALIFORNIA. 



145 



Ord. XXVI. COMPOSITE. Juss. 



1. Borkhausia Lessingii; radice perenni multicipi, caule scapiformi glabro simplici uni- 

 floro, foliis glabris anguste linearibus pinnatifidis laciniis brevibus remotis, involucri foliolis 

 planis obtusiusculis margine scariosis extus hirsutiusculis. — Troximon apargioides. Lessing 

 in Linncea, v. 6. p. 501. 



This is certainly the plant of Lessing, agreeing- both with specimens received from him, and now in Dr. 

 Hooker's Herbarium, and with his description ; but since in the true species of Troximon, the pappus is harsh 

 and persistent, while in our plant, it is soft and very caducous as in Sonchus, we have referred it to Borkhausia, 

 notwithstanding- the different involucrum which most species of that genus possess. The achenia are atten- 

 uated into a long- beak, which is dilated at the apex, forming a disc for the reception of the pappus and florets. 

 In Troximon, although usually described with a sessile pappus, or, in other words, without a beak to 

 the achenium, there is really a short beak, by which, and by the different kind of involucre, that genus 

 seems principally distinguished from Leontodon. 



1. Lygodesmia minor. Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. v. 1. p. 295. t. 103. f. A. (fruct.) 



1. Sonchus oleraceus. Linn. 



1. Eupatorium ? 



We have seen but one specimen, and that in a very bad state, presenting only a branch of the inflor- 

 escence. The upper part of the stem is herbaceous and quadrangular. The flowers are in panicled corymbs. 

 Involucre of 4 or 5 oblong, obtuse, striated and whitish leaflets, furnished at the base with about as many 

 short scales, similar to the involucre. Flowers very few in each capitulum. Achenia linear, glabrous, 

 with about five angles, formed by as many prominent nerves. Pappus capillary, scabrous at the base, at the 

 apex incrassated and slightly plumose. A detached leaf, probably not belonging to the specimen, accom- 

 panied it in the Collection. 



1. Madia viscosa. Cav. Ic. v. 3. t. 298. 



Of this there are two varieties in the Collection : a. resembling the figure above quoted ; and /3. with the 

 leaves not above half-an-inch long and half-a-line wide, disposed copiously along the branches, and some- 

 what erect. The whole plant is slender and small, scarcely exceeding eight or nine inches, so that probably 

 this variety is caused by growing in a dry and poor soil. In habit it is very different from the common 

 variety. 



1. Erigeron Canadensis. Linn. 



1. Solidago Canadensis ; caule lierbaceo hispido erecto, foliis lanccolatis utrinque attenu- 

 ate serratis scabris, racemis paniculatis secundis recurvis, radio abbreviate Spr. — Linn. — 

 Spreng. Syst. v. 3. p. 539. 



The specimens in the Collection vary, with the leaves oblongo-lanceolate and slightly acuminated, with 

 the stem and leaves nearly glabrous, and with the racemes so contracted as to lose the secund and recurved 

 appearance described above. We, however, possess intermediate forms. The leaves are always more or 

 less conspicuously three-nerved, with a few distant narrow deep serratures, or teeth, which point upwards. 



2. Solidago petiolaris ; caule lierbaceo adscendente, foliis obovatis in petiolum decurren- 

 tibus serratis, racemis erectis densis, involucri foliolis oblongis appressis, radio discum sub- 

 superante. — Ait. — Spreng. Syst. v. 3. p. 541. Lessing in Linncea, v. 6. p. 502. 



Leaves and stem, in one specimen, scabrous, with a short greyish pubescence: in the others, they are 

 almost entirely glabrous. 



T 



