214 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. V, No. 1, 
A NEW SUNFLOWER FROM ILLINOIS. 
H. A. Gleason. 
Helianthus iLLiNOENSis. Ercct, six to ten dm. high, from a 
long running rootstock. Stem simple, slightly angled, densely vil- 
lous below, pubescent above. Leaves six to eight pairs, strictlv 
opposite, slightly scabrous above, softly pubescent beneath and 
villous on the veins, obtuse; the lowest four or five pairs oblong- 
lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, three-nerved, entire, ten to fifteen 
cm. long, tapering at the base into a villous winged petiole equalling 
or but little shorter than the leaves ; the upper two or three pairs 
much smaller or bractlike, petiole short or none. Lower internodes 
five to eight cm. in length, or the two lowest pairs of leaves approx- 
imate, upper internodes much longer. Inflorescence of one to seven 
heads; peduncles three to ten cm. long; involucre broadly cam- 
panulate or hemispherical, eight mm. high; scales lanceolate, 
acuminate, ciliate. Disk flowers yellow, rays about thirteen, two 
to three cm. long, bright yellow, achenes minutely pubescent. 
Flowers in August. 
On the sand dunes along the Illinois river near Havana, where 
it is common in the black-jack oak woods, especially along the 
edges and in the more open and sunny places. Material was 
collected in 1903 and 1904, and the type, collected on August 17, 
1904, is in the herbarium of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 
Helianthus illinoensis is evidently closeh" related to Helianthus 
occidentalis Riddell, which it resembles in the reduction in size of 
the upper leaves. It is at once distinguished from the latter 
species by the villous pubescence and the greater length of the 
lower internodes. The two are sometimes associated in the 
field, but in general appearance they are entirely distinct. Heli- 
anthiis occidentalis has broad, scabrous, light-green, short-peti- 
oled leaves which are nearly erect in a basal cluster, while in 
Helianthus illinoensis they are darker green, more or less spread- 
ing and scattered on the stem. 
SIX NUTATING PLANTS. 
John H. Schaffner. 
The diurnal nutation of certain herbaceous plants during their 
period of development has aroused interest for a long time. Allu- 
sion is made to it by a number of poets and some of the older 
reading books had quite accurate accounts of the nutation of the 
Common Sunflower. The observation of such phenomena should 
aid considerably in arousing the student’s interest in plant life 
and the subject offers an inviting field suitable for nature study. 
