length somewhat glabrous; leaves all radical, clustered, linear-filiform, entire,
or mostly sparingly pinnately-parted, much shorter than the naked simple
scapes; heads solitary ; immature achenia crowned with a minute pectinate
border simulating an obscure setulose exterior pappus.
California, Douglas!—Scapes several from the slender and simple perpendicular
root, fistulous, perfectly leafless, a span or more in height, terminated
by a rather large head. Leaves very slender. Mature achenia unknown
; the immature linear-oblong (certainly not obovate), obscurely striate.
Pappus long, separating somewhat in a ring.
§2. Suffruticose and perennial 1 subcaulescent: scales of the involucre linear,
in about 2 rather unequal series, and with several calyculate bracteoles:
jlowers yellow.—Malacomeris, Nutt.
2. M. incana: canescently tomentose with a somewhat deciduous wool;
leaves chiefly radical, clustered, irregularly pinnatifid; the lobes (3-7) remote,
short, oblong-linear; stem scapoid, bracteate, usually somewhat
branched, and bearing 2 or 3 heads; achenia angled, many-striate, the border
obsolete.—Malacomeris incana, Nu tt.! in trans. Amer.phil. soc. (n. ser.)
7. p. 435.
St. Diego, California, on an island in the bay, Nuttall!—Low, decumbent,
nearly a span high ; the radical leaves in close clusters, shorter than the
flowering stems. Heads smaller than in the preceding. Achenia small,
brownish. Pappus exactly as in M. Californica, but more copious.
§ 3. Annual, subcaulescent (heads only 30—40-flowered): scales of the involucre
in 2 series; the inner linear-lanceolate, 12-15, equal; the outer short
and unequal, calyculate, appressed: jlowers yellow.—L e pto ser is , Nutt.
3. M. sonchoides: dwarf, glabrous; stems branching, somewhat corymbose
; leaves linear-oblong, runcinate; the cauline small and scattered ; the
radical with short approximate lobes, spinulose-denticulate; achenia somewhat
angled, striate-ribbed, crowned with a very minute and denticulate border,
simulating an exterior obscure coroniform pappus.—Leptoseris sonchoides,
Nutt.! in trans. Amer. phil. soc. 1. c. p. 438.
Plains of the River Platte, Nuttall! June.—Plant 4-5 inches high, with
several stems springing from a slender tap-root, bearing small heads, which
resemble those of a Crepis. Exterior scales of the involucre erose-denticu-
late. Pappus exactly as in the preceding, but shorter, deciduous in a ring.
Achenia pale.
§4. Perennial, caulescent, leafy: scales o f the involucre numerous; the inner
linear, equal, appressed, in about 2 series ; the outer short and calyculate,
subulate, spreading, copious: jlowers white.—L eucoseris, Nutt.
4. M.saxatilis: somewhat pubescent when young; stems diffuse or decumbent,
leafy, branching; leaves fleshy, linear-oblong, obtuse, mostly entire
; the lower occasionally somewhat serrate or pinnatifid towards the base;
heads few, somewhat fastigiate ; peduncles with minute subulate bracteoles;
calyculate scales subulate-lanceolate, very numerous, imbricated; achenia
somewhat angled, strongly ribbed, crowned with a minute denticulate border._
Leucoseris saxatilis, Nutt.! in trans. Amer.phil. soc. 1. c. p. 440.
St. Barbara, California, on shelving rocks near the sea, Nuttall! April.—
Stems 1-2 feet long. Leaves 2-3 inches in length, half an inch wide, often
auriculate at the base, and partly clasping. Heads as large as those of the
Dandelion. Flowers very numerous, pure white. Achenia dark brown.
Pappus as in the rest of the genus.
5. M.commutata: herbaceous, glabrous; stem erect, fistulous, striate,
leafy, racemose-corymbose at the summit; leaves lanceolate-linear, sessile,
acute, denticulate, those of the branches entire ; heads terminating the simple
branches ; calyculate scales of the involucre subulate, squarrose-spread-
ing, rather numerous; the proper scales very narrow and acute.—Hieracium ?
Californicum, D C .! prodr. 7.. p. 235. Sonchus? Californicus, Hook.
Am . bot. Beechey, suppl. p. 361. Leucoseris Californica, Nutt. l.c.
California, Douglas!—Stem 1-2 feet high. Leaves not fleshy, much
narrower than in the preceding (to which it is very closely allied); the heads
smaller, with the ligules in the dried specimens purplish underneath. Mature
achenia unknown : ovaries with. no manifest border or crown at the
summit. Pappus as in the preceding.
6. M. tenuifolia: suffruticose, glabrous; stem erect, branching (2-3 feet
high) i leaves sessile, laciniate-pinnatifid, with long and narrowly linear
lobes; the upper entire, filiform ; heads few, corymbose. Nutt.—Leucoseris
tenuifolia, Nutt. 1. c.
St. Barbara, California, on the mountains near the town.—The expanded
flowers and fruit not seen. Involucre as in M. saxatilis. but the scales
narrower and more acuminate. Nuttall.
192. CREPIS. Linn. (excl. spec.); Mctnch ; DC. jl. Fr., 8f prodr. 1. c.
Heads several-many-flowered. Involucre mostly double; the inner or
proper scales in a single series ; the outer short and calyculate. Receptacle
somewhat fimbrillate-hairy, or naked. Achenia terete or slightly compressed,
mostly 10-30-striate, either columnar, narrowed at the apex, or
obscurely attenuate-rostrate. Pappus copious, capillary, white ; the bristles
somewhat scabrous, usually very soft and slender (in H. chondrilloides,
hyoseridifolia, pygmaea, &c., rather rigid and slightly thickened towards the
base!).—Branching herbs (natives of the northern hemisphere), with nearly
the involucre of Senecio. Leaves mostly toothed or pinnatifid. Flowers
yellow.
§ 1 . Involucre many-jlowered; the exterior calyculate scales often loose: receptacle
naked or somewhat hairy : achenia mostly 10-13-striate.—Eu-
c r e p is , DC. (Crepidium & Psilochasna, Nutt.)
L C.runcinata: perennial? radical leaves obovate-oblong or oblong-lanceolate,
narrowed at the base and somewhat petioled, hirsute-pubescent on
both sides,, or at length glabrous, runcinate-toothed or somewhat incised, or
frequently entire on the same plant; the cauline solitary or reduced to mere
linear bracts at the bifurcations of the corymbosely branched scape; scales
of the pubescent involucre linear-lanceolate, acute, with scarious margins;
achenia somewhat attenuated upwards, smooth, scarcely as long as the
pappus.—Hieracium runcinatum, James, in Long's exped. 1. p. 453 ; Torr.
m ann. lyc. New York, 2. p. 209. Crepis biennis /?. Hook. ! fl. Bor.-Am. 1 .
p. 297, not of Linn. C. biennis /?. ? Americana, DC. prodr. 7. p. 163.
Crepidium runcinatum, Nutt.! in trans. Amer.phil. soc. 1. c. p. 436.
Saskatchawan, to the prairies of the Rocky Mountains, Drummond ! Lake
Huron, Dr. Todd. Borders of woods at Devil’s Lake, Mr. Nicollet!