inflorescence, and almost filiform branches and peduncles; cauline
leaves all linear, hardly over 1'' wide.--S. E. Ohio to Va., N. C., and
Tenn.
Var. calycosa, Gray. Almost 1 deg. high; leaves broadly lanceolate,
thickish; calyx-lobes elongated (2--4'' long), much surpassing the
pod.--From Ill. (_Hall_) to Ark. and N. Ala.
6. H. angustifolia, Michx. Stems tufted from a hard or woody root;
_leaves narrowly linear_, acute, 1-ribbed, many of them fascicled;
flowers crowded, short-pedicelled; lobes of the corolla densely bearded
inside; _pod obovoid, acute at base, only its summit free_, opening
first across the top, at length through the partition.--Barrens, Ill. to
Kan., south to Tex., Tenn., and Fla.
2. OLDENLANDIA, Plumier.
Calyx 4-lobed, persistent. Corolla short, in our species wheel-shaped;
the limb 4-parted, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4; anthers short. Style 1
or none; stigmas 2. Pod thin, 2-celled, many-seeded, opening
loculicidally across the summit. Seeds very numerous, minute and
angular.--Low herbs, with small stipules united to the petioles.
(Dedicated to the memory of _Oldenland_, a German physician and
botanist, who died early at the Cape of Good Hope.)
1. O. glomerata, Michx. An inconspicuous, pubescent or smoothish,
branched and spreading annual (2--12' high); leaves ovate to oblong;
flowers in sessile axillary clusters; corolla nearly wheel-shaped
(white), much shorter than the calyx.--Wet places, near the coast, N. Y.
to Fla. and Tex.
3. CEPHALANTHUS, L. BUTTON-BUSH.
Calyx-tube inversely pyramidal, the limb 4-toothed. Corolla tubular,
4-toothed; the teeth imbricated in the bud. Style thread-form, much
protruded. Stigma capitate. Fruit dry and hard, small, inversely
pyramidal, 2--4-celled, at length splitting from the base upward into
2--4 closed 1-seeded portions.--Shrubs, with the white flowers densely
aggregated in spherical peduncled heads. (Name composed of [Greek:
kephale/], _a head_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _a flower_.)
1. C. occidentalis, L. Smooth or pubescent; leaves petioled, ovate or
lanceolate-oblong, pointed, opposite or whorled in threes, with short
intervening stipules.--Swamps and along streams, throughout the
continent. July, Aug.
4. MITCHELLA, L. PARTRIDGE-BERRY.
Flowers in pairs, with their ovaries united. Calyx 4-toothed. Corolla
funnel-form, 4-lobed; the lobes spreading, densely bearded inside,
valvate in the bud. Stamens 4. Style 1; stigmas 4, linear. Fruit a
berry-like double drupe, crowned with the calyx-teeth of the two
flowers, with 4 small seed-like bony nutlets to each flower.--A smooth
and trailing small evergreen herb, with round-ovate and shining petioled
leaves, minute stipules, white fragrant flowers often tinged with
purple, and scarlet edible (but nearly tasteless) berries, which remain
over winter. Flowers occasionally 3--6-merous, always dimorphous; all
those of some individuals having exserted stamens and included stigmas;
of others, included stamens and exserted style. (This very pretty plant
commemorates _Dr. John Mitchell_, an early correspondent of Linnaeus, and
an excellent botanist, who resided in Virginia.)
1. M. repens, L.--Dry woods, creeping about the foot of trees,
especially Coniferae, throughout our range and southward. June,
July.--Leaves often variegated with whitish lines. Rarely the two
flowers are completely confluent into one, with a 10-lobed corolla.
5. SPERMACOCE, Dill. BUTTON-WEED.
Calyx-tube short; the limb parted into 4 teeth. Corolla funnel-form or
salver-form, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4. Stigma or style 2-cleft.
Fruit small and dry, 2-celled, 2-seeded, splitting when ripe into 2
carpels, one of them usually carrying with it the partition, and
therefore closed, the other open on the inner face.--Small herbs, the
bases of the leaves or petioles connected by a bristle-bearing stipular
membrane. Flowers small, whitish, crowded into sessile axillary whorled
clusters or heads. (Name compounded of [Greek: spe/rma], _seed_, and
[Greek: akoke/], _a point_, probably from the pointed calyx-teeth on the
fruit.)
1. S. glabra, Michx. Glabrous perennial; stems spreading (9--20' long);
leaves oblong-lanceolate; heads many-flowered; corolla little exceeding
the calyx, bearded in the throat, bearing the anthers at its base;
filaments and style hardly any.--River-banks, S. Ohio to Ark., Tex., and
Fla. Aug.
6. DIODIA, Gronov. BUTTON-WEED.
Calyx-teeth 2--5, often unequal. Fruit 2- (rarely 3-) celled; the
crustaceous carpels into which it splits all closed and indehiscent.
Flowers 1--3 in each axil. Otherwise resembling Spermacoce. Flowering
all summer. (Name from [Greek: di/odos], _a thoroughfare_; the species
often growing by the wayside.)
1. D. Virginiana, L. Smooth or hairy perennial; stems spreading (1--2 deg.
long); leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sessile; corolla white
(1/2' long), the _slender tube abruptly expanded into the large limb;
style 2-parted; fruit oblong, strongly furrowed_, crowned mostly with 2
slender calyx-teeth.--Low grounds along streams, southern N. J. to Fla.,
west to Ark. and Tex.
2. D. teres, Walt. Hairy or minutely pubescent annual; stem spreading
(3--9' long), nearly terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, closely sessile,
rigid; _corolla funnel-form_ (2--3'' long, whitish), with short lobes,
not exceeding the long bristles of the stipules; _style undivided;
fruit_ obovate-turbinate, _not furrowed_, crowned with 4 short
calyx-teeth.--Sandy soil, N. J. to W. Ill., Fla., and Tex.
7. GALIUM, L. BEDSTRAW. CLEAVERS.
Calyx-teeth obsolete. Corolla 4-parted, rarely 3-parted, wheel-shaped,
valvate in the bud. Stamens 4, rarely 3, short. Styles 2. Fruit dry or
fleshy, globular, twin, separating when ripe into the 2 seed-like,
indehiscent, 1-seeded carpels.--Slender herbs, with small cymose flowers
(produced in summer), square stems, and whorled leaves, the roots often
containing a red coloring matter. (Name from [Greek: ga/la], _milk_,
which some species are used to curdle.)
Sec. 1. _Naturalized species; fruit dry._
G. VERUM, L. (YELLOW BEDSTRAW.) Perennial; stems smooth, erect; leaves 8
or sometimes 6 in the whorls, linear, roughish, soon deflexed; flowers
very numerous, paniculate, yellow; fruit usually smooth.--Dry fields,
E. Mass. (Nat. from Eu.)
G. MOLLUGO, L. Perennial, smooth throughout; stems erect or diffuse, 2
or 3 deg. long; leaves 8, or 6 on the branchlets, oblanceolate to nearly
linear; flowers very numerous in ample almost leafless panicles; fruit
smooth.--Roadsides and fields, N. Y. and Penn. (Nat. from Eu.)
G. ANGLICUM, Huds. Annual, slender, diffuse, seldom 1 deg. high, glabrous;
leaves 5--7, oblanceolate to nearly linear (3'' long), their margins and
the angles of the stem spinulose-scabrous; flowers rather few, cymulose
on leafy branches, greenish-white, very small; fruit glabrous, more or
less tuberculate.--Roadsides, Bedford Co., Va. (_Curtiss_). (Nat. from
Eu.)
G. TRICORNE, With. Annual, resembling _G. Aparine_, rather stout, with
simple branches; leaves 6 or 8, oblanceolate, cuspidate-mucronate, the
margins and stem retrorsely prickly-hispid; flowers mostly in clusters
of 3, dull white; fruits rather large, tuberculate-granulate, not hairy,
pendulous.--Fields, eastward. (Nat. from Eu.)
Sec. 2. _Indigenous species; fruit dry._
[*] _Annual; leaves about 8 in a whorl; peduncles 1--3-flowered,
axillary; fruit bristly with hooked prickles._
1. G. Aparine, L. (CLEAVERS. GOOSE-GRASS.) Stem weak and reclining,
bristle-prickly backward, hairy at the joints; leaves lanceolate,
tapering to the base, short-pointed, rough on the margins and midrib
(1--2' long); flowers white.--Shaded grounds, throughout the continent;
probably as an introduced plant eastward.
[*][*] _Perennials; leaves in 4's, comparatively large, and broad
(narrower in n. 7 and 8), not cuspidate-pointed, more or less distinctly
3-nerved; fruit uncinate-hispid (except in n. 6 and 7)._
[+] _Peduncles loosely 3--several-flowered; flowers dull purple to
yellowish-white._
2. G. pilosum, Ait. _Hairy; leaves oval_, dotted, hairy (1' long), the
lateral nerves obscure; _peduncles 2--3-forked, the flowers all
pedicelled_.--Dry copses, R. I. and Vt. to Ill., E. Kan., and southward.
Var. puncticulosum, Torr. & Gray. Almost glabrous; leaves varying to
elliptical-oblong, hispidulous-ciliate.--Va. to Tex.
3. G. Kamtschaticum, Steller. Stems weak, mainly glabrous (1 deg. high);
_leaves orbicular_ to oblong-ovate, thin (1/2--1' long), slightly pilose;
flowers slenderly pedicellate; _corolla glabrous, yellowish-white_, not
turning dark, _its lobes merely acute_. (G. circaezans, var. montanum,
_Torr. & Gray_.)--Higher mountains of N. Eng., L. Canada, and far
westward. (Asia.)
4. G. circaezans, Michx. (WILD LIQUORICE.) Smooth or downy (1 deg. high);
_leaves oval_, varying to ovate-oblong, _mostly obtuse_, ciliate (1--11/2'
long); _peduncles usually once forked, the branches elongated_ and
widely diverging in fruit, _bearing several remote flowers on very short
lateral pedicels_, reflexed in fruit; lobes of the _greenish corolla
hairy outside, acute or acuminate_.--Rich woods, N. Eng. to Minn., south
to Fla. and Tex.
5. G. lanceolatum, Torr. (WILD LIQUORICE.) Nearly glabrous; _leaves_
(except the lowest) _lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, tapering to the
apex_ (2' long); _corolla glabrous, yellowish turning dull purple, lobes
more acuminate_; otherwise like the last.--Dry woods, N. Eng. to
N. Mich. and Minn.
6. G. latifolium, Michx. Smooth (1--2 deg. high); _leaves lanceolate or
ovate-lanceolate_, acute (2' long), the midrib and margins rough; cymes
panicled, loosely many-flowered, the purple flowers on _slender
spreading pedicels; fruit smooth_, rather fleshy.--Dry woods, mountains
of Penn. to N. C. and Tenn.
7. G. Arkansanum, Gray. Similar but lower; leaves lanceolate to linear
(1' long or less), the lateral nerves obscure or none.--S. Mo. and Ark.
[+][+] _Leaves narrow; flowers bright white, numerous in a compact
panicle._
8. G. boreale, L. (NORTHERN BEDSTRAW.) Smooth (1--2 deg. high); leaves
linear-lanceolate; fruit minutely bristly, sometimes smooth.--Rocky
banks of streams, Maine to Penn., Iowa, Minn., and westward. (Eu.,
Asia.)
[*][*][*] _Leaves in 4's, 5's, or 6's, small, 1-nerved; flowers white;
fruit smooth (flowers greenish and fruit hispid in n. 12.)_
[+] _Leaves pointless._
9. G. trifidum, L. (SMALL BEDSTRAW.) Stems weak, ascending (5--20'
high), branching, mostly roughened backwards on the angles; _leaves in
whorls of 4 to 6_, linear or oblanceolate, the margins and midrib rough;
_peduncles scattered, 1--7-flowered_; corolla-lobes and stamens often
only 3.--Sphagnous bogs and wet ground, throughout the continent.
Exceedingly variable.--Var. PUSILLUM, Gray, the smallest form; leaves
only in 4's, 3--4'' long, narrow, in age often reflexed; peduncles
1-flowered. In cold bogs, northward.--Var. LATIFOLIUM, Torr., the
larger and broadest-leaved form; leaves 6 or 7'' long, often 2'' wide.
From Canada, south and west. (Eu., Asia.)
10. G. concinnum, Torr. & Gray. Stems low and slender (6--12' high),
with minutely roughened angles; _leaves all in 6's, linear, slightly
pointed_, veinless, the margins upwardly roughened; _peduncles 2--3
times forked, diffusely panicled_; pedicels short.--Dry hills, Penn. to
Va., west to Minn., Iowa, and Ark.
[+][+] _Leaves cuspidately mucronate or acuminate._
11. G. asprellum, Michx. (ROUGH BEDSTRAW.) _Stem_ much branched, _rough
backwards with hooked prickles_, leaning on bushes (3--5 deg. high); _leaves
in whorls of 6, or 4--5 on the branchlets, oval-lanceolate_, with almost
prickly margins and midrib; peduncles short, 2--3 times
forked.--Alluvial ground, N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn., Iowa, and
Mo.
12. G. triflorum, Michx. (SWEET-SCENTED BEDSTRAW.) Stem (1--3 deg. long)
bristly-roughened backward on the angles; leaves elliptical-lanceolate,
bristle pointed, with slightly roughened margins (1--2' long); peduncles
3-flowered, the flowers all pedicelled, greenish; fruit beset with
hooked bristles.--Rich woodlands, throughout the continent.
Sweet-scented in drying. (Eu.)
Sec. 3. _Perennial; fruit a berry; leaves in 4's, 1-nerved._
13. G. hispidulum, Michx. Hirsute-pubescent, scabrous, or sometimes
nearly smooth, 1--2 deg. high, diffusely branched; leaves oblong or oval,
mucronate (3--6'' long), pedicels solitary or commonly 2 or 3 from the
small involucral whorl, all naked, or one of them bracteolate; flowers
white; berry purple, glabrate.--Dry or sandy soil, southern N. J. to
Fla., along the coast.
8. SHERARDIA, Dill.
Calyx-lobes lanceolate, persistent. Corolla funnel-form, the limb
4--5-lobed. Stamens 4--5. Style filiform, 2-cleft, stigmas capitate.
Fruit dry, twin, of 2 indehiscent 1-seeded carpels.--A slender
procumbent herb, with square stems, lanceolate pungent leaves in whorls
of 4--6, and small subsessile blue or pinkish flowers surrounded by a
gamophyllous involucre. (Named for _Dr. William Sherard_, patron of
Dillenius.)
S. ARVENSIS, L. The only species; sparingly naturalized from Eu.
ORDER 53. VALERIANACEAE. (VALERIAN FAMILY.)
_Herbs, with opposite leaves and no stipules; the calyx-tube coherent
with the ovary, which has one fertile 1-ovuled cell and two abortive or
empty ones; the stamens distinct, 1--3, fewer than the lobes of the
corolla, and inserted on its tube._--Corolla tubular or funnel-form,
often irregular, mostly 5-lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud. Style
slender; stigmas 1--3. Fruit indehiscent, 1-celled (the two empty cells
of the ovary disappearing), or 3-celled, two of them empty, the other
1-seeded. Seed suspended, anatropous, with a large embryo and no
albumen.--Flowers in panicled or clustered cymes. (Roots often odorous
and antispasmodic.)
1. VALERIANA, Tourn. VALERIAN.
Limb of the calyx of several plumose bristles (like a pappus) which are
rolled up inward in flower, but unroll and spread as the seed-like
1-celled fruit matures. Corolla commonly gibbous near the base, the
5-lobed limb nearly regular. Stamens 3.--Perennial herbs, with
thickened strong-scented roots, and simple or pinnate leaves. Flowers in
many species imperfectly dioecious or dimorphous. (A mediaeval Latin name
of uncertain origin.)
[*] _Root spindle-shaped, large and deep (6--12' long); leaves
thickish._
1. V. edulis, Nutt. Smooth, or minutely downy when very young; stem
straight (1--4 deg. high), few-leaved; leaves commonly minutely and densely
ciliate, those of the root spatulate and lanceolate, of the stem
pinnately parted into 3--7 long and narrow divisions; flowers in a long
and narrow interrupted panicle, nearly dioecious; corolla whitish,
obconical (2'' long).--Wet plains and prairies, Ohio and Ont. to Iowa,
Minn., and westward. June.
[*][*] _Root fibrous; leaves thin. (Stems 1--3 deg. high.)_
2. V. sylvatica, Banks. Smooth or minutely pubescent; _root-leaves ovate
or oblong, entire_, rarely with 2 small lobes; stem-leaves pinnate, with
3--11 oblong-ovate or lanceolate nearly entire leaflets; cyme at first
close, many-flowered; _corolla inversely conical_ (3'' long, rose-color
or white).--Wet ground, Newf. to southern N. Y., N. Mich., westward and
northward. June.
3. V. pauciflora, Michx. Smooth, slender, surculose; _root-leaves ovate,
heart-shaped, toothed_, pointed, sometimes with 2 small lateral
divisions; stem-leaves pinnate, with 3--7 ovate toothed leaflets;
branches of the panicled cyme few-flowered; tube of the (pale pink)
_corolla long and slender_ (1/2' long).--Woods and alluvial banks,
Penn. to S. Ill., Mo., and Tenn. June.
2. VALERIANELLA, Tourn. CORN SALAD. LAMB-LETTUCE.
Limb of the calyx obsolete or merely toothed. Corolla funnel-form,
equally or unequally 5-lobed. Stamens 3, rarely 2. Fruit 3-celled, two
of the cells empty and sometimes confluent into one, the other
1-seeded.--Annuals and biennials, usually smooth, with forking stems,
tender and rather succulent leaves (entire or cut-lobed towards the
base), and white or whitish cymose-clustered and bracted small
flowers.--Our species all have the limb of the calyx obsolete, and are
so much alike in aspect, flowers, etc., that good characters are only to
be taken from the fruit. They all have a rather short corolla, the limb
of which is nearly regular. (Name a diminutive of Valeriana.)
[*] _Corolla bluish; fruit with a corky mass at the back of the fertile
cell._
V. OLITORIA, Poll. Fruit flattish, obliquely rhomboidal; empty cells as
large as the fertile, contiguous, the thin partition at length breaking
up.--Old fields, N. Y. to Penn. and La. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*][*] _Corolla white; no corky mass behind the fertile cell._
[+] _Fertile cell broader than the empty ones; cross-section of fruit
triangular._
1. V. chenopodifolia, DC. Stems with long internodes and few forks;
glomerate cymes few, slender-peduncled; bracts broadly lanceolate; fruit
glabrous or pubescent, 2'' long. (Fedia Fagopyrum, _Torr. &
Gray_.)--Moist grounds, western N. Y. to Minn., south to Va. and Ky.
[+][+] _Fertile cell as broad as the empty ones, beaked; cross-section
quadrate._
2. V. radiata, Dufr. Fruit ovate-tetragonal, _downy-pubescent_
(sometimes glabrous); empty cells as thick as the oblong-ovate fertile
one, or thicker, _a broad shallow groove between them_. (Fedia radiata,
_Michx._)--Low grounds, Penn. to Minn., Tex., and Fla.
3. V. stenocarpa, Krok. Fruit oblong-tetragonal, _commonly glabrous_;
oblong fertile cell thicker than the linear-oblong approximate empty
ones. (Fedia stenocarpa, _Engelm._)--W. Mo. and E. Kan. to Tex.
[+][+][+] _Fertile cell much the narrowest, dorsally 1-nerved; section
roundish._
4. V. Woodsiana, Walp. Fruit 1'' long or more; fertile cell ovate,
tipped with a tooth; empty ones inflated, with oblong depression
(sometimes an open cavity) in the middle.--Moist grounds, N. Y. and
Penn. to Tex.
Var. umbilicata, Gray. Empty cells becoming confluent, vesicular by
incurvation of the circular margin, forming a deep and round
umbilication. (Fedia umbilicata, _Sulliv._)--N. Y. to Ohio and
southward.
Var. patellaria, Gray. Fruit saucer-shaped, emarginate at base and apex,
winged by the divergent cells. (Fedia patellaria, _Sulliv._)--Same
range.
ORDER 54. DIPSACEAE. (TEASEL FAMILY.)
_Herbs, with opposite or whorled leaves, no stipules, and the flowers in
dense heads, surrounded by an involucre, as in the_ Composite Family;
_but the stamens are distinct, and the suspended seed has
albumen._--Represented by the following introduced species and by the
cultivated Sweet Scabious (_Scabiosa atropurpurea_).
1. DIPSACUS, Tourn. TEASEL.
Involucre many-leaved, longer than the chaffy leafy-tipped and pointed
bracts among the densely capitate flowers; each flower with a 4-leaved
calyx-like involucel investing the ovary and fruit (achene). Calyx-tube
coherent with the ovary, the limb cup-shaped, without a pappus. Corolla
nearly regular, 4-cleft. Stamens 4, inserted on the corolla. Style
slender.--Stout and coarse biennials, hairy or prickly, with large
oblong heads. (Name from [Greek: dipsa/o], _to thirst_, probably because
the united cup-shaped bases of the leaves in some species hold water.)
1. D. SYLVESTRIS, Mill. (WILD TEASEL.) Prickly; leaves lance-oblong;
leaves of the involucre slender, longer than the head; bracts (chaff)
tapering into a long flexible awn with a straight point.--Roadsides;
rather rare. (Nat. from Eu.) Suspected to be the original of
2. D. FULLONUM, L., the FULLER'S TEASEL, which has a shorter involucre,
and stiff chaff to the heads, with hooked points, used for raising a nap
upon woollen cloth; it has escaped from cultivation in some places.
(Adv. from Eu.)
(Addendum) 2. SCABIOSA, Tourn. SCABIOUS.
Characters of Dipsacus, but the green leaves of the involucre and
involucels not rigid nor spinescent. (Name from _scabies_, the itch,
from its use as a remedy.)
S. AUSTRALIS, Wulf. Perennial, sparsely branched, nearly glabrous,
11/2--3 deg. high; leaves narrowly lanceolate to linear, the lower
oblanceolate, slightly toothed or entire; heads short-oblong; calyx
obtusely short-lobed; corolla pale blue.--Central N. Y. and Penn.; rare.
(Adv. from Eu.)
ORDER 55. COMPOSITAE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.)
_Flowers in a close head_ (the compound flower of the older botanists),
_on a common receptacle, surrounded by an involucre, with 5 (rarely 4)
stamens inserted on the corolla, their anthers united in a tube
(syngenesious)._--Calyx-tube united with the 1-celled ovary, the limb
(called a _pappus_) crowning its summit in the form of bristles, awns,
scales, teeth, etc., or cup-shaped, or else entirely absent. Corolla
either strap-shaped or tubular; in the latter chiefly 5-lobed, valvate
in the bud, the veins bordering the margins of the lobes. Style 2-cleft
at the apex (in sterile flowers usually entire). Fruit seed-like
(_achene_), dry, containing a single erect anatropous seed, with no
albumen.--An immense family, in temperate regions chiefly herbs, without
stipules, with perfect, polygamous, monoecious or dioecious flowers. The
flowers with a strap-shaped (_ligulate_) corolla are called _rays_ or
_ray-flowers_; the head which presents such flowers, either throughout
or at the margin, is _radiate_. The tubular flowers compose the _disk_;
and a head which has no ray-flowers is said to be _discoid_. When the
head contains two sorts of flowers it is said to be _heterogamous_; when
only one sort, _homogamous_. The leaves of the involucre, of whatever
form or texture, are termed _scales_. The bracts or scales, which often
grow on the receptacle among the flowers, are called the _chaff_; when
these are wanting, the receptacle is said to be _naked_.--The largest
order of Phaenogamous plants. The genera are divided by the corolla into
three series, only two of which are represented in the Northern United
States. The first is much the larger.
Systematic Synopsis.
SERIES I. TUBULIFLORAE.
Corolla tubular in all the perfect flowers, regularly 5- (rarely 3--4-)
lobed, ligulate only in the marginal or ray-flowers, which when present
are either pistillate only, or neutral (with neither stamens nor
pistil).
Tribe I. VERNONIACEAE. Heads discoid; the flowers all alike, perfect and
tubular, never yellow. Branches of the style long and slender, terete,
thread-shaped, minutely bristly-hairy all over.--Leaves alternate or
scattered.
1. Elephantopus. Heads 3--5-flowered, several crowded together into a
compound head. Involucre of 8 scales. Pappus of several chaffy
bristles.
2. Vernonia. Heads several--many-flowered, separate. Involucre of many
scales. Pappus double, the inner capillary, the outer of minute chaffy
bristles.
Tribe II. EUPATORIACEAE. Heads discoid, the flowers all alike, perfect
and tubular, never yellow. Branches of the style thickened upward or
club-shaped, obtuse, very minutely and uniformly pubescent; the
stigmatic lines indistinct.
[*] Pappus a row of hard scales.
3. Sclerolepis. Head many-flowered. Scales of the involucre equal.
Leaves whorled.
[*][*] Pappus of slender bristles.
[+] Achene 5-angled; bristles of the pappus roughish.
4. Mikania. Flowers and involucral scales only 4. Stems twining.
5. Eupatorium. Involucre of more than 4 scales and the flowers few or
many. Stems not twining.
[+][+] Achene 10-ribbed; involucral scales striate-nerved.
6. Kuhnia. Pappus very strongly plumose. Scales of the involucre few.
7. Brickellia. Involucral scales in several series. Pappus merely
scabrous.
8. Liatris. Pappus plumose or only barbellate. Corolla red-purple,
strongly 5-lobed. Heads spicate or racemose, the involucre well
imbricated.